Love, James
by Side1ways
Summary: James' life was looking up for a short while. He'd found someone within the school that shared his secret, and the two of them had been anonymously messaging each other due to it. So, what will happen now that someone has discovered both the secret and the emails, and are using them to threaten him. Will James compromise everything just to keep his secret safe?
1. Chapter 1: Social Enigma

**Hi Guys and welcome to the first chapter of my new story, called Love, James! So, as I've mentioned a few times, this is going to be a Love, Simon-esc story focusing around James so the entire story will be from his POV.**

 **I have to admit that when I started to write this story, I didn't have a very clear outline of what was going to happen so if the first few chapters are a bit all over the place then that is why. Now, however, I have a plan which I am happy with so it should be all cushty.**

 **Another think that I should mention is that I can't write email addresses in the story. That shouldn't be too much of an issue, as the emails themselves are pretty clear but I just wanted to mention that.**

 **That's enough from me for now, so I would love to hear what you all think of it! Let's crack on!**

* * *

 _The problem with high school is that it's a social enigma, completely opposite to how the real world actually works. In the world at large, the intelligent are praised and often have some of the highest paying and rewarding jobs. In high school however, the intellectuals are instead ridiculed, and to be honest, bullied by what the high school kids view as the 'populars'. You know, the ones who don't do the work in class or at home, and mostly end up failing their courses. Yeah, those._

 _And I think it's safe to say that the currency within high schools is gossip. Whether it be about your friends, or even enemies everyone loves a bit of gossip. And of course, as the newest recipient of the gossip, you have one job to fulfil. Pass the gossip along. Spread the gossip like it's the plague, and most importantly, don't think about the life or lives that you are ruining by spreading said gossip._

 _Now, I don't know about you Comit, but I for one try to avoid this at all costs. I don't need my secret getting out there, and I can imagine you feel the same.  
_

 _Lost._

At least, this was the email I sent this morning, right before I started to drive to school. And by my luck, it seemed Comit had responded by the time I got here.

To:lostinthemoment  
From: comitinthestars  
Subject: Re: High School Society

 _Lost  
_ _While I love hearing about your analysis of high school, I think it's safe to say I was only expecting an overview of what you expect to happen today. For example, I know that my lessons are gonna suck._

 _Anyway, I'm glad to see that we share a similar view on high school, even though it is evident that we both participate in the gossip that takes place. I can only hope that one of us does not get caught up in the middle of it._

 _Comit._

I chuckled to myself as I read the email. I loved how witty Comit is, always coming up with something to say in each situation. I stared at the email, considering if I had enough time to respond before school started, but that was thrown out of the window when my car door swung open. I panicked, and quickly locked my phone, hoping whoever yanked my car door open hadn't caught a glimpse at the email. When I finally looked over, I saw the brunet grinning, before climbing into the seat next to me.

"Holy shit Dak, you scared the shit out of me" I said, placing my hand over my heart to emphasis my point.

"You said shit twice" Dak replied, with a grin on his face.

"You bet I did" I replied, before starting to chuckle slightly.

"So, are you heading in? I saw you pull up like five minutes ago and you know how Camille likes to see us before lessons" Dak asked, causing me to nod.

"I was planning to before you scared me to death" I replied, before clocking on to what he had said. "Wait, have you just been watching me for 5 minutes?" I questioned, causing him to grow bright red.

"I wouldn't say I was watching you. More, waiting until you got out so I could walk with you" he replied, causing me to chuckle.

"Creep" I said, with a playful shove, causing him to chuckle before the two of us grabbed our stuff and made our way into the school. Like usual, the corridors were bustling with people, some who were just stood by their lockers, getting ready for the day, while others were just walking with their friends, talking about the latest gossip.

Apparently, Josie Rogers was caught giving Steve Douglas a blow-job in the boy's locker rooms a couple days ago. The news had spread like wild fire around the school, hence the topic of my email to Comit, one that he thankfully seemed to agree with. When we finally arrived in the cafeteria, most of the group was already seated, yet making awkward small talk. It was safe to say that our group was a very interest mess of people.

You had Dak, Camille and I as the main 'founders' of the group so to speak. The three of us had been friends since year 7, where we all sat on the same table in our form room. The three of us clicked instantly, and our friendship was legendary. Well, to us at least. Aside from us, there was Dak's football friends, Jett and Kendall. They were nice enough, and definitely hot, not that I told anyone, but didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the jocks, hence their presence. Then we had a mathlete at the table, Logan, who just seemed to sort of appear one day. No one can really remember why he joined us (it was probably Camille who invited them to sit with us) but since then, he always came and sat with us. The latest arrival to the table was Lucy or 'the new girl' as most people knew her as. She joined our school a few months back and I quickly became friends with her when we sat with each other in history, one of my optionals. Since then, she's also joined us causing a little tension between the group. Well, mostly tension between Camille and her, but Camille would never let on why. It's not like they were outright bitchy to one another, but Camille would sometimes make a few sarcastic remarks when Lucy said something. Like I said, not outright bitchy but weird.

I was snapped out of my thought process when I heard Camille speak as I sat down. "There you guys are! We've been waiting for you" she said, causing me to raise an eyebrow at her.

"What for?" I asked, curious to see why our presence was so important.

"I was wondering if we're going to the game this Friday!" She said, causing me to roll my eyes at her. The action caused me to get slapped on the arm but I persisted anyway.

"Camille, we always go to the games. Just like we always go Logan academic stuff, and how everyone comes to see our plays" I replied with a chuckle as a pout formed on her face.

"Well, I was just checking" she huffed, causing the rest of the table to join in. "So, what took you so long anyway?" she continued, and before I could reply Dak spoke up.

"James was just chilling in his car" he said, causing me to raise an eyebrow at him.

"Like I said earlier, creep" I replied with a playful tone causing everyone to laugh once again. Before long, the bell went and everyone began to scurry to their lessons. I quick glance at my timetable, I saw that I had history with Lucy, causing a small smile to grow on my face. I turned to see her making her way over to me and nodded my head at her when she approached.

"Morning" she said, as the two of us made our way to the lesson.

"Morning, you get the homework done?" I asked, causing her to huff out in annoyance.

"Only just. I was up until 1 am getting it finished" she replied, moving a piece of hair out of her face. "I mean, who cares about how Elizabeth quelled the rebellion in England, it was like 400 years ago and in a different country!"

"I found it interesting" I replied with a shrug.

"Course you would, cause you're a nerd" she teased before the two of us finally reached the classroom. As soon as I walked in, I got an awkward feeling in my gut, and I glanced around to see that Beau was staring at me. I made eye contact with him, but that didn't seem to deter him, with him putting more effort into the stare instead.

I shifted uncomfortably as I looked away and began my walk over to my desk, next to Lucy. I couldn't focus on the lesson after that, as for the whole thing, I felt like he was staring at me. When I would try to glance back at him, he'd always be looking forward at the teacher, or down at the desk yet when I looked away, the feeling returned. I was definitely on edge, mostly wondering why the jock was staring at me and whether it was because I had done something I didn't mean too.

The lesson passed relatively slowly, with me playing with the sleeves on my shirt or wiping my nose, two of my nervous ticks, before the bell finally went. I breathed out a sigh of relief, packing my stuff away and checking my timetable to see that I had a free next. Due to it still being quite early within the year, I wasn't sure who I shared these periods with, so I headed for the library knowing I would probably get the most work done there.

* * *

As I walked in, I saw that the large room was relatively empty. There were a few students scattered about, sitting in their friendship groups, as well as a few students like myself, with no one else to sit with. I made my way over to one of the more secluded areas of the library and sat down at the table, before pulling out my notepad and my textbook for geography. As soon as I looked up, I saw Beau stood at the other end of the table, and I jumped slightly at his sudden presence.

"James" The jock said, as he pulled a chair out from the table and made himself comfortable.

"Beau" I said, as I raised an eyebrow at him quizzically. "Any reason you're sat there?" I continued, causing him to chuckle.

"Actually there is" he replied, with a rather…charming smile. Except it wasn't a nice charming, but more of a weird repulsive charming. It was difficult to explain. I shook my head, getting rid of the thought as he continued. "So, the other day I logged onto to one of the computers after you, and when I launched Gmail, it seemed to load your email instead of mine" he began, and my face paled at what I knew he was going to say next. "And I may have accidentally read some of the emails."

"How can you accidentally read my emails!?" I asked, outraged at both myself and the boy in front of me. With myself, it was due to the fact that I was stupid enough to not log out properly, and I was outraged with him…well because it's Beau and he READ MY EMAILS! I exhaled through gritted teeth as he spoke next.

"Would it interest you to know that my brother is gay?" he asked, causing me to stare back at him, no sign of emotion on my face.

"No" I replied with simply, showing how disinterested I was. An air of awkwardness passed over the table, leaving us in silence for a few minutes before he spoke up again.

"Anyway, I was thinking maybe we could…you know help each other out" he began, that smug look returning on his face.

"And what could I possibly want from you" I replied sarcastically, causing him to chuckle, kind of sadistically.

"Well, I won't show anyone the emails, if you… help me out with Lucy" he replied, causing my eyes to widen significantly. I slammed my fist down onto the table, causing a loud bang as well as a few heads to swivel towards our direction. They stared for a few seconds before turning away, continuing whatever conversations they were having.

"You printed them?" I asked, gritting my teeth once again.

"Well, screenshotted them, but you're missing the bigger picture" he replied, and I felt like I wanted to rip my hair out.

"Missing the bigger picture? You screenshotted my emails!" I snapped back, causing him to chuckle which only infuriated me more.

"Like I said, I wont show anyone if you just mention to Lucy what a great guy I am, and you know, help me out."

"Great guy? You're blackmailing me!"

"Think of it more as an…arrange. You help me, I help you" he replied with a shrug, before finally pulling himself up from the desk. "Think about it" he said, beaming me that smug smile once more, before he finally walked away, leaving me to seethe in anger. That jackass had seriously put a dampener on the rest of my day, hell who knows, even the rest of my week or my entire life. I sighed once again, running my hands through my hair as I considered what he said.

' _I'm gonna freaking have do it! I mean, I'm not ready to come out yet. But more important, I'll have to do it to protect Comit. The poor guy doesn't have a clue about any of this, and if those emails get leaked, it'll probably scare him off and he'd never speak to me again'_

It seems I was so consumed by my thoughts that I hadn't noticed that two people have joined my table. Well, not until someone was waving their hand in front of my face.

"James" I heard a voice say, and when I looked up, I saw Dak and Kendall had joined me both chuckling to each other.

"Geez dude, you were out of it" Dak said, as he pulled his stuff out of his back.

"Yeah, we were easily calling your name for 5 minutes" Kendall continued, clearly over exaggerating the amount of time that had passed. Right?

"Sorry guys, I just got lost in thought" I replied, giving the two of them a small smile. Kendall was quick to return the smile, before awkwardly averting his eyes away as he pulled some stuff out of his bag.

"So I'm guessing we all share this free? That's pretty cool right!" Dak said, breaking the awkward silence that had filled the table.

"Yeah, that's cool" I replied, trying not to think about Beau had said. The conversation on the table continued to the light as the three of us started our work. I was trying to figure out how heat moved around the earth for my geography lesson later, while the two of them seemed to be working on some maths homework or something.

The atmosphere on the table was nice, the only thing ruining it being the mental image of Beau's creepily charming smile.

* * *

It was safe to say that by the end of the day, I was ready to go home and wallow in self-pity, but before that could occur, we had rehearsals for our musical, which was Annie. I was cast the main male lead of the film, Mr Stacks, meaning that I couldn't just skip rehearsals. I walked in to see that most people had already arrived and were just lounging about on the stage.

I made my way over to Camille and Lucy, who were currently sat scrolling through their phone. They looked up as I sat next to them and Camille instantly knew something was up.

"What's wrong?" she asked, putting her phone in her pocket as she turned to face me.

"Nothing" I said back, trying my best to act like it was nothing. "Just been a long day" I replied, rubbing my forehead in an attempt to emphasis my stress. She looked at me for a moment, as if she was considering if I was lying to her, which I clearly was, before shrugging.

"Hopefully rehearsals will make you feel better. I love how much you love to be on stage Daddy" she replied with a laugh, causing me to cringe slightly. Camille was cast to play Annie in the play, and as the script said, she had to refer to me as Mr Stacks, which I was perfectly fine with. Camille however, decided it would be hilarious to make me uncomfortable by referring to me as Daddy, much like in the original Annie, taking the situation to a whole new level of weird. Before I could say anything, Miss Wainwright began to talk, rounding everyone up as she did so.

"Ok, we're going to start with The City Yours since we finished with Little Girls yesterday. The rest of you that aren't in that scene-" _which was basically everyone but Camille and_ I "-I want you to continue to run lines" she finished, causing everyone to nod. Of course, one hand shot up, and everyone snickered when we saw it was Jo.

"What shall we do if we've already memorised everything?" she asked, making sure to let everyone know that she had. That's what Jo was like. Don't get me wrong, she was a sweet girl if not slightly self-centred. Miss Wainwright just wiped her forehead before replying.

"Run lines with someone who hasn't" she replied, causing everyone to chuckle once again. Before long, Camille and I were stood on the stage, singing our hearts out, as the set changed behind us.

And for that moment, I seemed to forget that I was being blackmailed.

* * *

 **So there we have it, the first chapter! I introduced Comit right at the beginning, who is James' pen pal so to speak and emails from him should occur about every two chapters or so. I would also just like to say that there is a reason why the name is spelt Comit, instead of Comet, and you will find what that is later on! I also had Beau be the 'bad guy' in this story, as I felt like I was using Jett quite a lot. Plus, I always forget that Beau exists, so it was nice to include him.**

 **And finally, the play that James is doing is the 2014 Annie, because I love that movie so much, and I think all the songs in it are amazing! Plus it's kinda one of the only musicals I have watched. Well, apart from Disney Musicals but it didn't want them to perform High School Musical. To quote Simon 'Not that gay'**

 **Anyway, I just want to say a massive thank you once again for all the support on Rekindled, as it was truly amazing and it's so sad to think that that story is actually over. Another thank you as well to Guest, Winterschild11, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed, who seemed to love the Alternate Ending, which I am so happy about! Like you said, it was nice to see them both achieve their goals, and of course James would wait for 7 years just to see Kendall again. True Love has no time frame (or some cheesy shit like that haha) But I am truly grateful that you all enjoyed it so much, and left so many reviews telling me what you thought about each chapter, it was so nice to hear!**

 **I will see you all on Monday for the next chapter of Class Vs Character, but until then**

 **TTFN :D**


	2. Chapter 2: Psychic

**Hi guys and welcome back to Love, James! I have been so excited to post this next chapter, and you guys were amazingly supportive on the last chapter so let's get on with it shall we!**

* * *

When I finally got home, I was ready for my bed to swallow me up whole. When rehearsal finished, I was ready to peg it home only to see that Beau was stood at the door waiting. Apparently, football practise had finished early that night, so he came with Dak, Kendall and Jett to say hi. Of course, that sparked the conversation with everyone saying that they didn't know Beau and I were friends, causing me to bullshit about how 'tight' we were. Beau then solely focused his attention of Lucy, while the rest of us chatted.

I was quick to excuse myself from the conversation, saying that I needed to get home and just before I left, I felt Beau's glare in the back of my head once more. I just nodded back, causing that smug smile of his to return.

A smile that I really wanted to beat of his face, and I'm not really the violent type.

Walking into the house, I saw Mum was sat on one of the sofas going through some paperwork. "Hi honey" she said, pulling herself up from the couch and walking over to give me a hug. I gave her a half-arsed response, and from that she knew that something was up. "What's wrong?" she asked, her eyebrows furrowing together in worry as she kept a hand on my shoulder.

"Not much, just been a stressful day" I replied, causing her to pull me into another hug.

"Well, you're home now, so you can relax" she said, before pulling back out of the hug. "I've left some snacks in the kitchen for you, but don't eat too many as dinner will be ready when your father gets home" she continued, causing me to nod.

"Thanks mum" I said, giving her a smile before I grabbed my back pack off the floor and headed into the kitchen. I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, as well as a packet of Reese's before making my way up to my bedroom. Just like I left it this morning, my bed was half made with the quilt being a bit rumbled, and my pyjamas sat on top of it.

My desk was filled with useful clutter, as I liked to call it, but in actuality it was empty water bottles that I hadn't binned yet, as well as my laptop, iPad, and the DVD of Annie, considering I'd never seen it before we started to rehearse the play. I tossed my bag down next to my desk, before pulling my chair out, and the first thing I did was check my emails, hoping to see something from Comit. Much like every night, there was a new email from him.

To: lostinthemoment  
From: comitinthestars  
Subject: I'm Psychic

 _Lost,  
_ _Like the email subject suggests, I've decided that I'm psychic. The reason for this deduction? Because I can guess the future. In my email this morning, I said that school today would suck, and guess what? IT DID! Lessons were boring, much like I predicted, and I had a hard time concentrating due to their monotonous voices nearly putting me to sleep._

 _In other news, my day was made much better when I got home to receive a bag of Peanut M &M's from my parents, one of my favourite chocolates of all time. It is safe to say the bag will be gone by the time you have read this email. One thing to know about me, I do not share my M&M's with anyone._

 _How was your day? I hope it was far more interesting that mine._

 _Comit_

 _P.S I don't really believe in psychics or astrology to be honest. I mean sure, some things match up to what I am like, but should a constellation really define my personality? Psychics on the other hand. Well, let's not get me started._

As usual, the email made me laugh. Like I said earlier, I loved how witty he has as well as he was able to make me feel so involved in his life without knowing each other. We agreed when we started this that it would be best if we stayed anonymous yet I couldn't help but think what Comit would be like in real life. I quickly composed an email back.

To: comitinthestars  
From: lostinthemoment  
Subject: Re: I'm Psychic

 _Comit,  
_ _I agree with your deduction of being psychic, as my school day also sucked. It wasn't necessarily the lessons, but more the people I interacted with. However, your email easily brought a smile to my face, so I graciously thank you for that._

 _I would be jealous of your Peanut M &M's, except I have my own treat of Reese's cups, so I can hardly complain. Who would have thought that we both had a thing for nuts? Also, I understand not sharing some sweets with other people, as that is a line I would not cross with my current snacks. Maybe one day, we would be able to overcome that boundary together._

 _As for astrology, I've never really considered it properly. Sure, I've seen the videos shared on Facebook, and most of those things seem to match with my personality, so I've never really discounted it but also ever acknowledged it. As for psychics, it's always been an idea of mine to go and get my palms or tarot cards read. I find the idea quite amusing, to see what someone else thinks my future will be like. I, in no way will believe a word that they say, but it could be interesting._

 _I'm sorry to hear about your day, but I hope it helps that my day sucked as well. Maybe we can swallow in self-pity together?_

 _Lost_

I replied with a smile on my face. I loaded up another tab on my laptop, before reaching for my bag and pulling out some work I had to do for Biology, one of my least favourite lessons. I always seemed to struggle with the concepts that they tried to introduce so when homework was set for the lesson, I knew I would need to dedicate a whole night to it. I sighed as I began to fill out the work sheet, and before long about 15 minutes had passed. I heard my laptop let off a small ding, and when I looked up I saw that a new email had come through. My heart skipped a beat quickly, as I clicked on the email, and started to read through it, finding there was a picture attached.

To: lostinthemoment  
From: comitinthestars  
Subject: Re: I'm Psychic

 _Lost,  
_ _It does slightly help that your day also sucked, I'm not going to lie. Maybe it's due to the fact that I'm not the only one. Wallowing in self-pity was also on my agenda tonight as well, right before homework but after dinner so we will definitely be doing that together._

 _As for sharing our snacks, you'll see that there a photo attached to this email. Hopefully this will begin to bridge the gap of sharing but know that I expect one in return. Also, I am shocked to see that we both have a thing for nuts. Who would have thought that would have been a thing we shared?_

 _I can safely say that I would not want my palms or tarot cards read, the idea of knowing my future scares me. Plus, I think that I would lose incentive if I knew what was coming. If you want to do it, go ahead! Make sure to let me know the vague outcome of it as I'm now slightly curious._

 _Comit_

Attached to the email was a photo of about 5 to 6 M&M's with a small post-it note next for it. ' _For Lost'_ It read causing me to chuckle. I grabbed one of the Reese's from the pack, and did a similar thing, writing 'For Comit' on a post it note that I stuck it next to the cup. I cleared my desk, making sure that there was nothing he could use to identify me with, before snapping a photo of the display. I attached to the next email I sent.

To: comitinthestars  
From: lostinthemoment  
Subject: Re: I'm Psychic

 _Comit,  
_ _Unfortunately this will have to be my last email for now. Something to with school and homework or something like that. Just know that I'd rather be talking to you, then doing it._

 _I thank you for the picture of the M &M's, it was very thoughtful of you and I will treasure it forever. As expected, you'll find an image attached to this email with a Reese's in it. I think that would be a fair trade, right? One Reese's for 5 M&M's?_

 _If I do decide to ever brave a psychic, you will be the first person I'll tell, you can be sure of that. Enjoy the rest of your day, cause I sure as hell know that I won't._

 _Lost._

Hitting send on the email, I logged off knowing that if Comit sent any more emails, I would just check them later. I tried to settle back into a mindset where I could do my homework, but instead my brain kept going to Comit and the emails, and then to what Beau would do with them. I really didn't need those emails getting out. I mean, sure everyone would know my secret, but it's also what would happen with Comit. I know he's someone in our school, and if they were leaked then he'd probably never talk to me again.

Like ever.

I groaned with frustration, knowing that I'd been over all this before and that only made it worse. At the moment, someone else was in complete control of my life and I hated it.

Deciding that I'd wallowed enough, I logged into my Spotify, and began to play my personal playlist, hoping it would distract me. As the sound of Taylor Swift began to blast through my room, I managed to settle down and crack on with my homework.

* * *

It was an hour and half later when I was finally called down for Dinner, seeing that Dad had finally gotten home. As I walked into the kitchen, a smile grew on his face.

"Hey champ" he said, before coming over and ruffling my hair like I was a 5 year old. I'm not going to lie, it had kind of become a tradition of ours, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. No matter how much time I spent on my hair in the morning, I wouldn't care about it as soon as Dad got home.

"How was work?" I asked, as I saw him set his stuff on the floor. Knowing what Mum was going to ask of me, I started to grab some bowls out of the cupboard and began to set the table as we spoke. Mum was stood over the hob, cooking something that smelled really good, while Dad began to get some drinks ready.

"Yeah, it was alright. The Morrisons seemed to like the design of the house and gave it the go ahead" he replied, as he grabbed a few bottles of water from the fridge. Dad was an architect, and was always designing someone's house, or going around to check how the builders were getting on. Mum on the other hand owned her own Cosmetic's company, and it was safe to say that it was fairly well know. It wasn't like L'Oreal well know, but she owned a few stores in a few states.

"That's good. I bet it was the pool that sold it to them" I added, causing him to chuckle.

"A pool that cover's over to be a tennis court. Of course it was" he replied as I placed the knifes and forks down.

"Just remember whose idea it was" I replied, causing him to stick his tongue out at me like a child. Mum and I just laughed as the pulled the pan off the hob and placed it on a tray in the middle of the table. Everyone took their seats, and Dad was quick to try and dive in.

"Careful Richard, the pans hot" Mum scolded, causing Dad to pout. I just laughed once again, before we all started to load up our Chicken Korma. Once everyone had gotten dish up, conversation began again.

"How was school?" Dad asked, causing me to shrug.

"Stressful" I replied, covering my mouthful of food. I swallowed before continuing. "You know, some lessons are boring and some are alright. Everyone seems to be getting on ok though" I replied, causing him to nod.

"And the play?"

"Yeah, it's alright. I still have a few songs and lines to learn but Miss Wainwright said we have until Christmas until she wants us off book, so that should be fine." I replied, slightly picking at my food before taking a bite of it.

"You got one of the leads, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I'm playing Mr Stacks. From the 2014 Annie instead of the older one. Miss Wainwright said this one would appeal more to a modern audience"

"And how are Camille and Dak?" Mum finally chimed into the conversation, allowing Dad to eat.

"Yeah, there ok. There's a game coming up on Friday so Dak has been practising for that, and Camille's with me in the play, you know what she is like. Stressed as always", I replied, causing them both to chuckle.

"Seems like everything's good then" She said, as I moved my food around my plate.

"Yeah" was all I said, looking down at the table slightly. Mum and Dad seemed to share a quick look before discussion on the table picked up again, with Dad asking her about how her day was. I stayed quiet for most of it, listening to the two of them chat, mostly hoping that I could have something like this in the future. Mum and Dad were total high school sweethearts. Not the athlete and cheerleader type of high school sweetheart, but high school sweethearts nonetheless. They went to the same university, and quickly got married after that. Before long, little old me was born and placed into this mess of the world.

' _If anything, I'm blaming them for the situation I'm in.'_ I thought to myself, a small smile growing on my face at my joke.

"So, The Hunted is on tonight" Dad said, getting my attention back from my own thoughts. "You gonna sit and watch it?" he asked, already knowing the answer to the question. The Hunted was basically our family time. The three of us would gather around the TV and sit there watching as twelve people tried to escape the country's best investigators.

"You know the answer Dad" I replied, a small smile growing on my face, as I finished up the rest of the food on my plate. The three of us unloaded the table, with Mum quickly rinsing stuff under the tap while Dad put it in the dishwasher and I collected all the condiments and put them back in the places. Before long, we were sat watching as a couple began to run from the chasers.

"I bet there two are gay" My dad says randomly, causing both my mum and I to look over at him.

"What?" I asked, slightly shocked and confused by what he had just said.

"I don't know, you can see it in the way they look at each other" he replied, his voice softening as he said so. "It's the same way I look at your mother" he continued, before winking at me as a joke. I saw mum slap him on the chest playfully before she spoke.

"I think they're cute" she said, causing Dad to nod in agreement. I sighed slightly as I laid back into the sofa feeling slightly better inside. I never thought that my parents were homophobic, it's just the topic never really came up in the house. One of my biggest fears was that they would disown me if I did come out. I suppose this helped settle those nerves slightly, but the fear was still present.

' _What happens if it's different with their own son?'_ I tried to block the thought out, as I focused back onto the TV, imagining what it would be like if Comit was here right now, the two of us cuddled up to each other.

* * *

 **So there is chapter 2! We had a conversation with Comit about how their days were at school, and we got to know a little bit more about him, and then we also got a look into James' home life with his Mum and Dad! Like I said, I was super excited to get this chapter out here, so I hope you all enjoy it. You also be pleased to hear that I have spent the last few days writing this story because I have just been so motivated to do so! It's currently at about 37,000 words and I will say now that the Comit reveal hasn't happened yet, so get ready to be in this for the long run!**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Guest, Winterschild11, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter and I was surprised to see how many of you actually forgot about Beau but it also made me feel better as I wasn't the only one! He is such a dick in the show, and I thought he was absolutely perfect for this role, so I just had to include him. Plus, like I said, I've been a bit heavy on Jett being the enemy in the last stories, so I didn't want to use him, and WayneWayne didn't seem right for it.**

 **You also have a few guesses of who you think Comit is going to be, which will be interesting, and you were all interested by the way I spelt it. I will admit that I mentioned in the authors note last time, mostly so you didn't think I was an idiot haha.**

 **I will see you guys on Monday for the next chapter of Class Vs Character, but until then**

 **TTFN :D**


	3. Chapter 3: Origins

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Love, James! The support on this story has been amazing, so thank you so much! I will quickly add now that I am not a poet in any way, shape or form, so I'm sorry if the little poem in this chapter sucks, but I needed something. I'm not going to lie to you though, I am pretty impressed with it. Anyway, let's crack on!**

* * *

As our English teacher droned on about the use of similes, metaphors and iambic pentameter in poems, my mind started to wonder to the back to when I started to message Comit. As usual, I was strolling through the school's Tumblr page, which was set up by the school's social media committee as an 'open space for people to share their thoughts and feeling anonymously.' The use of air quotes is strong there, cause it's a bunch of bullshit.

Really, it's used as a source of spreading gossip at a massively accelerated rate so that everyone knows everyone else's business in a flash.

Anyway, I'm getting side-tracked from the real point of this day dream. It was about two months ago when it was posted, and much like usual, I was strolling through it at an accelerated rate, trying to skip most of the shit when I saw a picture of a tug of war. Immediately this piqued my interest, mostly because it stood out from the plain text posts that frequently occurred on here. I noticed a small passage beneath it, so naturally I began to read it.

 _Taut between two sides, each fighting to win.  
_ _As one draws closer, the other will not give in.  
_ _A sense of happiness spreads when one side emerges.  
_ _Knowing that acceptance looms on the verges.  
_ _As the other pulls back, that acceptance seems to sway.  
_ _I suppose that's the price, of being gay_

That's it. Six lines, and I felt like my entire life had been summarised and perfectly I might add. So of course, as any other person would react, I screenshotted the piece and loaded up the picture making sure that I couldn't make a stupid mistake. And then I read it and read it and read it over and over and over again, mostly due to the fact that there was someone else out there like me, knowing exactly how I feel. That's when the thought of saying something popped into my head.

"What's the harm?" I reasoned. "The website is completely anonymous. I could just leave a comment, saying that I loved it and leave it at that" Of course, it's never as simple as that is it. As I loaded it back up on my laptop, my brain seemed to lose all sense of intelligence. 'What should I say?' seemed to be the question that stood over me, almost like it was a fifty foot wall. Thinking back to it now, maybe it was due to the fact that this was a real possibility to interact with another gay kid and if I screwed that up, then that chance would be gone, and I'd go back to my closeted life, which suddenly seemed a little bit lonelier.

I debated what to say for a good half an hour, before I finally decided 'fuck it' and typed a response. It was simple, yet I feel like it conveyed everything I needed to say. "LOVED IT!" was the comment I left, exactly like this and as soon as I hit send, I logged off the website and loaded up Spotify, hoping to drown out the thought with Shawn Mendes. Shawn Mendes was pretty much my guilt passion with music. No one at school knew that I listened to him, and I purposely had a separate hidden playlist with his songs in, so if anyone did scroll through my main playlist they wouldn't see it. It's also where I got the email address to my Tumblr from, so I was like double anonymous on there.

As that evening passed, the thought of the comment worked its way out of my mind, and I had seemingly forgotten about it when I heard a ping go off from my phone. I grabbed it to see what the noise was, and I saw it was a notification from said Tumblr email. At first, I wasn't quite sure what it could be. I mean, I used that email for lots of different things; Fanfiction, free trails once my main email had run out and even a few MMORPG's that I played, so like usual I loaded it up.

Sat at the top of my inbox was an email from an unknown sender and of course the first thing that popped into my mind was the comment that I had posted. Instantly, my brain filled with the worst case scenarios, mostly that someone had figured out who I was and that this was an email to taunt me. I panicked, may have let out a slight girly screech and dropped my phone onto the floor. As that process occurred, my thumb seemed the graze the screen, causing the email to load up in full.

I glared down at the phone in betrayal, wanting nothing more for it to explode but instead my eyes seemed to focus on the words the email contained.

To: lostinthemoment  
From: comitinthestars  
Subject: Poem

 _Umm, so I don't know if this comment was meant as a joke or not but if it wasn't, I just wanted to say thank you for the support._

That was it. Much like the poem itself, it was short and concise. My heart seemed to drop as I read it, this poor person thought that my comment may have been a joke. I immediately grabbed the phone from beneath me, and wrote an email back, this time not even considering it for a second time.

To: comitinthestars  
From: lostinthemoment  
Subject: Re: Poem

 _Hey, that comment wasn't mean as a joke. I completely understand what you mean, and I felt like it summarised my whole life. I really did love it._

Short, simple, and it conveyed the message I was trying to send. That's pretty much how this whole email thing started. He sent an email back, thanking me again for the support and saying how nice it felt to have someone else out there, and from there this anonymous messaging flourished. I felt like I was a bit impersonal, so I told him to call me Lost, knowing that it was at least some alias to go by and he responded by saying that I could call him Comit. I never gave his name a second thought, knowing mine was equally ridiculous and since then, nearly a month had passed, the two of us almost messaging each other every day. We both had so much to say to each other despite how anonymous it was and over the month, it easily became my favourite part of the day.

I was quickly snapped out of my pleasant daydream when I heard a loud slam in front of me, and I jumped massively in my seat. Someone cackled from above me, and when I looked up I saw Camille stood there.

"I'm sorry dude, but it was too good of an opportunity to pass up" she said, as she continued to laugh. I looked around to see that the rest of the class were all packing their stuff away, so I decided to follow suit, relieved that the two hours had gone past so quickly and that I could escape Miss Eldridge and her incessant perfection of English. As the two of us escaped the lesson, and entered the bustling corridors of the school, Camille spoke up once again.

"You ok James? You were completely out of it in that lesson" she asked, as we approached my locker. As I turned the combination lock, I shrugged back to her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Miss Eldridge was just boring the hell out of me" I replied, placing my English book into my locker, and pulling out my physics for my next lesson.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I zoned out as well. But you seemed really out of it" she replied, narrowing her eyes at me even more as if to accuse me of something. I shut the locker door, shrugging again.

"What can I say? Poetry can be dull sometimes" I replied, leading the two of us towards the cafeteria. She seemed to get the message that I didn't want to talk about it, dropping it as we walked to the cafeteria. As we walked in, Camille saw that they were selling some barbecue chicken paninis and sprinted for the queue. I just chuckled as I made my way over to our usual table, seeing that Logan was already sat there. As I placed my bag down, Logan looked up from the book he was reading and smiled.

"Hey" he said, closing the book and placing it into his bag. I caught a brief glimpse of the cover, and it was something called 'The Frontier Saga' and the cover seemed to look like some sort of planet.

"Hey, what you reading?" I replied, pulling my lunch out of my bag.

"Nothing much. My favourite author announced a new book, so I thought I'd reread the old ones" he replied, causing me to nod as I pulled out a chocolate bar.

"I've never been much of a reader. More of a movie kinda guy" I responded, before taking a bit of said bar.

"You're missing out. Books always seem to have more in them than movies. I always seem to get a better sense of character from them." He said with a smile, showing how enthusiastic he was about it.

"Huh, maybe I'll give it a try sometime" I stated, causing a small smile to grow on his face. I'd never properly stared at Logan before, but now that I am, I notice that he's got little dimples when he smiles. For some reason, his smile seemed to be contagious and before long I was smiling back.

"So you ready for Physics?" he asked, causing me to overdramatically shake my head.

"Not in a long shot. I just have English which was a pain, and now Physics" I replied, mimicking hanging myself with a noose.

He just chuckled, before saying "Come on, it won't be so bad. I mean, at least we're learning about Radioactivity. It could be worse." I just mimicked the noose again, causing him to laugh, and before long the table started to fill out with everyone. Lucy sat next to me, with Camille next to Logan. Kendall seemed to sit the other side of me, with Dak sitting next to him, and Jett sat next to Logan, facing Kendall.

Everyone descended into mindless chatter, telling each other about their lesson and whatnot when the weird staring sensation returned. I turned around to see Beau staring at me and before I could even fully turn my head back around, he'd appeared at the table next to Lucy.

"Oh hey Beau" I said with the most deadpan voice I could muster, showing that I was not happy about his presence whatsoever.

"Hey James." he asked reaching for his phone from his pocket while giving me a glare. "Do you guys want to see something?" he asked, still staring directly at me as he raised an eyebrow. I quickly caught on to what he was suggesting and sighed.

"So, do you guys want to go to Sundaes after the game on Friday?" I asked, seeing that Beau was putting his phone away. "You know, to congratulate you guys" I continued, causing Dak to raise his eyebrow at me.

"Dude, we haven't even played yet. How do you know we're going to win?" he replied, causing me to shrug.

"Cause I'm psychic" I replied, causing Kendall to choke on his food next to me.

"James, psychics don't exist" Lucy said from beside me, causing Dak, Kendall and Camille to 'mmm' in agreement.

"Fine, I'm being optimistic" I replied, hoping that would settle the dispute. "So, are you down?" I asked the table, causing everyone including Beau to nod. I saw he was giving me that signature smug look, and I grimaced as I began to pick at my food once more.

It didn't go unnoticed that Kendall choked on his food when I said about being a psychic and it made a flurry of thoughts rush through my head, the prevailing thought being that maybe Kendall was Comit. I knew I probably shouldn't be making assumptions like that, and I also knew that I should be more careful about what I say. Cause if Kendall was Comit, then that was a pretty big clue that I just have away.

* * *

Physics passed relatively quickly, but I think that was due to Logan's excitement about the topic more that the actual topic being interesting. When the class started to talk about half life, my brain instantly went to the game so in the corner of my page I started to doodle one of the headcrabs from the game.

"Really dude? Half Life" he whispered, pointing to the drawing, causing me to chuckle.

"What can I say? I like video games" I replied, with a shrug, now drawing a person underneath the headcrab. "I'm guessing you do too if you got the reference"

"I'm more of a portal guy" he replied, causing me to chuckle. Of course Logan would be more of a portal guy.

"What about Left 4 Dead?" I asked, causing him to glance over at me briefly.

"Left 4 Dead 2?" he whispered back, and when I nodded, all he said was "Quality" before the two of us looked up to see the teacher was looking this way as he talked. The two of us quietened down as we continued to make notes on the different types of radiation and their use, something I found mildly boring. Mildly because some of the uses were actually unexpected, but most of them were dull.

As the lesson progressed, I couldn't help but think about the chat that Logan and I had had. It was nice to be able to talk to him like that, as usually our conversations revolved around the lessons we'd had and are going to have rather than actual personal stuff. A sense of pride spread when having the thought, accompanying the feeling that I had made a new friend, as stupid as it sounds considering Logan had sat with us for a few months.

* * *

"And Action!" Miss Wainwright shouted, causing everyone in the theatre to go quiet.

"Nash, straggler Nash on the left" I said, making facial expressions to show that I was in character which caused everyone to chuckle.

"That's not a straggler, that's Lou" Camille replied, as she pretended to roll down the windows of the car. "Here, I got this for you Lou" she continued, pretending to hand a phone to Carlos.

"Thanks mija, but those things are evil. They steal your private information so big business can spy on you and crush your soul" Carlos replied, pretending to hand a phone back. Carlos quickly glanced down at his script, before continuing. "But I'm happy for you mija. Getting off the block" he said, before walking away, as we pretended the car was pulling away from him.

"And cut!" Miss Wainwright finally said, causing us all to turn to her, with smiles on our faces. "That was brilliant." She said, returning the smile, before turning to everyone else. "We'll call it a day there" she continued, causing everyone to scramble about as they grabbed their things. Miss Wainwright quickly turned back to us and said "Great work you three" before walking away.

"So, Carlos, how you getting on? I feel like we haven't spoken properly in age" Camille said, as the three of us made our way back stage.

"Yeah, I'm getting on alright. You know, school's school and all that" he replied, before releasing a sigh. "If I'm being perfectly honest, I'm struggling with remembering my lines. It's like I know what I need to say, but I can't get the right words out" he continued, causing Camille and I to nod.

"Well, Camille and I were going to head to Sundaes to run lines if you want to join us? It might help it you had someone to run them with" I asked, causing Carlos to blush slightly.

"Really? That would be great thanks" he responded. The three of us continued to chat as we grabbed our bags and made our way out to our cars. Since we all drove to school separately, the three of us decided to just meet each other there, with the first one there grabbing a table for us. Using this free time I had, I checked my emails, hoping to see something from Comit.

When I saw there was nothing, I let out a depressive sigh before I started my car engine and began the drive to Sundaes, using this opportunity to listen to my secret playlist.

* * *

 **So there we are! We had a small scene about how James and Comit started to talk, which I felt was pretty important to get in there. We also had a bit more blackmail from Beau, who I'm so glad everyone agrees is a massive dick. We had a small convo between Logan and James in Physics, and then we had the introduction of Carlos, who is also in the play with James!**

 **I want to give a massive thank you to Winterschild11, Guest, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter, and like I said earlier, thank you all for the support, it truly is amazing! I'm so glad that you all seem to find the emails between Comit and James adorable, and trust me when I say that they get better as the story progresses! You all also seemed to love the relationship between James and his family, which will play a big role later on!**

 **I will see you guys on Monday for the next chapter of Class Vs Character, which I will admit is the last one fully written. Damn, I need to start writing that one again. But until then,**

 **TTFN :D**


	4. Chapter 4: Buzzy Bee

**Hi guys and welcome back to Love, James! I don't have much to say except thank you for the massive support on the last chapter of this story, so let's crack on!**

* * *

I was the last to arrive at Sundaes, and by the look on Camille's and Carlos' face, I was quite late. "What took you so long?" Camille asked, as I slid into the booth next to her.

"Traffic lights have a thing against me" I replied with a shrug, not bothering to look at the menu as I knew exactly what I wanted.

"Hey, you ready to order now?" a voice said, and after the three of us gave our orders, I questioned Carlos on his, a sense of déjà vu crashing over me.

"What did you get again Carlos?" I asked, already knowing the answer, but not wanting to be creepy by saying it out loud.

"Oh, I got the Peanut Butter one. It comes with M&M's and I absolutely love M&M's" Carlos replied, my thought flicking back to the conversation I had with Comit.

"Not bad. I've had that one before, and it's really good" I responded, now studying Carlos intently, to see if he would give any other bits of information away, however unlikely it might be. The three of us chatted, not really knowing a lot about Carlos since we only really saw him in theatre and after the three of us had devoured our waffles, with Carlos subtly making orgasm sounds about how good his was, the three of us started to help Carlos work on learning his lines.

"Oh, oh I know that run" Carlos began, starting the scene with three of us. The way he gestured when he spoke really helped him get into character, but I could see how he kept glancing down at his script. "How much you need, mija?"

"$43.55" Camille replied, trying not to look at her script as she spoke.

"By When?"

"Now?"

"Go rob Bank of America. Here, I'll give you my mask" Carlos replied, before looking down at his script and groaning. "Here I'll _loan_ you my mask" he corrected, and I could see how disheartened he was. Camille was quick to pick up where the script left off, trying not to focus too much on Carlos' mistake.

"I'll work for it. Please Lou" Camille replied, pulling her best puppy dog eyes. I chuckled slightly from beside them, causing a smile to grow on Carlos' face as he continued with his lines.

"That face. Take the expired drinks from the cooler. Go ahead"

"Thank you, thank you thank you" Camille replied, pretending to lift up some juice and move them to the bin. Carlos was very good at pulling facial expressions to show how his character was feeling, and for a moment, I notice how I was staring.

"Whoa, what are you doing, girl? This ain't no Whole Foods. Don't throw them out change the date" Carlos said, looking over at me as it was my cue.

"I believe in hard work" I began, putting on my best 'professional businessman voice' "I don't just settle for 'okay' Great is all I know. I built my company to be a worldwide leader. And that's what I wanna do with this city" I said, noticing how Carlos was staring at me. When I looked over at him, he blushed slightly before averting his eyes back down onto his script.

* * *

As you can imagine, that's how the rest of the evening proceeded, and when it hit about half six, we finally decided to call it a day, promising to see each other tomorrow at rehearsals as well. When I arrived home, I saw that Mum and DaD were sat on the sofa, cuddled together as they were watching TV.

"Hey sweetie. I dished you up some food if you want it. Just shove it in the microwave" she said, turning her head so she could face me.

"I'm good thanks. I had a waffle at Sundaes with Carlos and Camille" I replied, causing her to smile.

"Ok, and don't stay up to late" she replied with a smile before turning her attention back to the TV as I headed up stairs. Like usual, I placed my bag down next to my desk and the first thing I did was load up my emails to see if Comit had sent one this evening, which he had. The fact that the email had arrived only about 5 minutes ago made me curious, instantly thinking that Carlos, Camille and I had left Sundaes 20 minutes ago. Maybe that was enough time for him to get home and send an email?

I shook the thoughts out of my head as I began to read when it said.

To: lostinthemoment  
From: comitinthestars  
Subject: Music Taste

 _Lost,  
_ _I have a confession to make and I hope you can forgive me when you find out what it is._

 _It seems I allowed my curiosity to get the better of me, and I googled your email in order to see if I could get a better understanding of you. When I did so, the first thing to load was a song from someone called NF, so I decided to listen to it. I have to admit, while it wasn't my usual type of music, I can understand why someone would enjoy it, as it was certainly interesting._

 _Comit._

After reading the email, I googled the song Comit had referred to, and listened to it laughing when I heard what it was actually about. From what Comit has told me about his music taste, this is something that he clearly wouldn't enjoy as he was more of an upbeat/dance music person. Chuckling to myself, I replied to the email.

To: comitinthestars  
From: lostinthemoment  
Subject: Re: Music Taste

 _Comit  
_ _I have to admit, I am laughing so hard right now at your email. You have told me about your music taste, and I know that Lost in the Moment by NF was definitely not it. Yet, I appreciate the fact that you still tried to spare my feelings._

 _I suppose I should tell you that my email is not in reference to that song, but instead to a song from Shawn Mendes called Lost. So, don't worry, you won't have to listen to NF anymore. Since you googled my email address in an attempt to know me better, I think I'm allowed you ask you a question back. I'm curious to know where the name 'Comit' came from. I assume that you know how to properly spell comet, so I'm wondering why you chose to spell it like you did._

 _Lost_

To: lostinthemoment  
From: comitinthestars  
Subject: Re: Music Taste

 _Lost,  
_ _I am so very grateful that your email did not reference that NF song, as I'm not quite sure that I would be able to cope with that…noise on a regular basis. As for the Shawn Mendes song, I am familiar with the stuff they play on the radio and quite enjoy it, yet I never really listened to anything else. However, I quite enjoyed 'Lost' and will definitely listen to more of his stuff._

 _As for the name 'Comit,' it was an old nickname my dad used to call me. When I was about 5, my dad took me outside to play football, when we saw a comet that was passing through the solar system. When he pointed it out to me, and told me what it was, I got all excited and started singing about it, you know, like any 5 year old would do. But because I was five, I didn't know how to spell the word properly, so I started to dance around the garden singing 'i t' instead of 'e t' hence where the name came from. The name stuck around for a little while longer, and every time I see something passing in the sky, I always think back to that moment._

 _I hope that was as interesting as you had hoped, and just a quick update, but since writing this email, I have worked my way through Shawn Mendes EP on Spotify. I have to say that I am really enjoying them so far!_

 _Comit_

To: comitinthestars  
From: lostinthemoment  
Subject: Re: Music Taste

 _Comit,  
_ _That story was amazing, and I thank you for sharing it with me. I can imagine a small you running around the garden dancing, although it is rather difficult when I don't know what you look like. I guess that's all part of this illusion._

 _I suppose it's only fair that I share something about my childhood with you so that we're even. When I was about 3 or 4, I remember walking into my conservatory on the back of my old house and sat on the windowsill was a small bumblebee. As I approached it, the small bee didn't fly away, so I decided to get closer and have a good look at it. I'm not sure what came over me in that moment, but I thought it would be a good idea to press my finger behind the bee, saying 'buzzy bee.' As I did, the bee moved away, so stupid 3 or 4 year old me decided to do it again, pressing my finger behind the bee as it moved repeating 'buzzy bee' over and over again. I'm assuming that the bee wasn't enjoying this, as he stung me after 4 or 5 finger pushes, causing me to shout 'naughty buzzy bee' as I pulled my finger away. Luckily my parents were in the garden and quickly came to my rescue, but from that day on, I have an innate fear of bees, which included Bumblebee from Transformers for a little while._

 _As for Shawn Mendes, I am glad you are enjoying his stuff and know that I will also be listening along as I get on with some school work. Who knows, maybe we'll be listening to the same song at the same time?_

 _Lost_

I knew the last line of that was cheesy as fuck, but I decided to send it anyway. Maybe Comit will find it sweet. I shook that thought away, as I grabbed some bits from my schoolbag and pulled out some work I had for Geography. I didn't get very far through it, when my phone vibrated on my desk. I glanced over at it to see that I had received a text from Dak.

 _'Hey, can we talk?'_ it read, and I raised an eyebrow at my phone despite the fact that he couldn't see it. I rung his number, and after the first ring he answered with a panicked "Hey" so I knew something was wrong.

"Dude, what's up? You never ask if you can ring me, you just do it, you must be spooked" I joked, trying to make light of the situation, while also showing that I cared slightly.

"Well you know, I just wanted to see if you were busy" he replied, causing me to chuckle.

"Dude, you never care if I'm busy. I once told you I have a doctor appointment, and I had to turn off my phone because you wouldn't stop texting me" I replied, causing him to snort in agreement. "So what's up?"

"I think I have a crush on Lucy" he said, and it felt like my whole reality warped around me with all the walls closing in. "I mean, I know how it ended with Jennifer and I've been a little sceptical to date other girls, but I really like Lucy and I think I want to risk it with her." He continued, as I just started to nod not that he could see.

"That's great" was all I could think to say, as I thought back to Beau. I mean, what happens to me if Dak and Lucy get together. Surely Beau would leak the emails, and everyone would know my secret, everyone would know Comit's secret. Yet, this was my best friend, and I'm planning to keep him separate from a girl that he actually likes!

Could I do that?

Could I stop my best friend from being happy for the sake of my own life?

"Lucy's great" I said down the phone, showing that I was still there.

"So, do you think I should go for it? I was thinking I could ask her out before the game this Friday? You know, we could go for a meal or something?" he asked, and I could hear the excitement in his voice. That made what I'm about to do like thousand times worse.

"Um Dak. I don't think that for the best" I began, and I could physically hear the enthusiasm leave his body. "I mean, Lucy was telling me about her boyfriend back in Oklahoma and they sound pretty serious" I lied, actively crushing my best friend's heart. "I'm sorry buddy" I added onto the end, hoping that would make it better. After a long silence, Dak finally spoke up.

"Nah, it's ok, I probably should have saw that one coming. I mean no one that pretty is single" he tried to joke, but it fell short.

"Sorry dude" I said again, hoping that it would help in some way. Well, it was more to help me try to recover from the crushing guilt I was feeling, but still.

"Nah dude, it's not your fault-" _Knife to my heart_ "-Well, I'm going to go and eat my feelings away. Catch you later" He replied, and I could hear the tears welling in his eyes.

"Yeah, see ya dude, and I'm sorry" I said again, causing him to say a quick "thanks" before hanging up the phone. Pulling my phone away from my ear, I slumped in my seat feeling absolutely terrible about what I had just done. I had just screwed over my best friend in order to save my own hide essentially and I couldn't help but think that this is going to have serious repercussions in the future. But then again, the needs of the many out way the needs of the few of the one, so maybe this would work out alright.

Right?

I knew the answer to that question but tried my best to ignore it as I continued to work on my Geography homework.

Maybe, just maybe this will all work out ok.

* * *

The next day at school I was kinda zoned out, as the thought of this crashing and burning hung over me. Dak seemed to be in a depressive state, picking at his food rather than eating it but everyone else seemed to be in a chipper mood, joking with each other over lunch.

"Dude come on!" Jett said in between laughter.

"What! I gained a serious injury from it!" Kendall defended, causing the rest of the table to descend into laughter.

"Kendall, you stubbed your toe on the water cooler" Camille said, as the table creased up even more. I even noticed how Logan was wiping the tears from under his eyes.

"Serious Logan, even you're laughing at me! I bet you've never done a day of sport in your life!" Kendall replied with a teasing tone, showing he wasn't being serious.

"Dude, gotta exercise both my body and my mind" Logan replied as he attempted to flex his biceps furthering the joke. This time, even Kendall started to laugh and we gained a smile out of Dak while the rest of the table howled.

"I stand corrected" Kendall replied, shooting a wink over at Logan as everyone continued to laugh. The jovial atmosphere on the table continued for a little while, before it returned to normal conversation.

"Hey James" Lucy said, gaining my attention. I saw how Dak looked over at me as Lucy began to speak. "So, do you think that maybe you could help me at some point? I can't seem to get the notes right on my drums and I thought maybe you could help. You mentioned how you could play and I just thought…" she began to trail off, looking at me with pleading eyes. Dak's gaze narrowed on me, and I started to get all nervous as I responded.

"Yeah, that sounds good" I replied, swallowing a lump in my throat as I did.

"Perfect, thank you so much!" She replied, pulling me into a hug, which I reluctantly returned.

"Can I get in on this" I heard from above and looked up to see Beau stood there.

"Oh hey Beau" I said, as the two of us pulled out of the hug.

"So, I heard that you're struggling with your drums? You know I could help" he offered, causing me to raise an eyebrow at him. Clearly, he was eavesdropping.

"No, it's ok. James said he'll help" Lucy said, scooting away slightly. Beau seemed to take that as a cue to sit down as he squeezed in between Lucy and I.

"Maybe a fresh pair of ears would do you good" Beau argued, giving me to side eye, basically forcing me to agree. "I mean, James has probably heard the song too many times, but I haven't heard it before, so I could tell what's off with a fresh perspective." He continued, ramming me with his knee as a sign to agree.

"That might be a good idea" I replied, reaching under the table to hold my knee due to the pain Beau caused. I could see Lucy staring me down as if to say she didn't want to but I gave her my best pleading look back, and she seemed to buy it.

"Fine" she replied with a long exhale before continuing. "Shall we say tonight? Theatre isn't practising, and I don't think football is either. Meet in the music room?"

"Yeah, sounds great. See you guys there" Beau replied with his sly smile. I felt him pat me on the back twice in a very condescending manor before walking away from the table. When Lucy gave me a death stare, I replied with a shy smile when the bell rang, saving the day.

I was quick to grab my bag, and as I went to walk away, I notice how Dak was looking at me once more. When I gave him a small smile, he just turned and walked away leaving me feeling bummed out.

* * *

 **So there we have it! We got a know a little bit about both Carlos and Comit, as well as where the name Comit came from, which I thought was a cute story. We then had James share a story of his own, which I will admit is an actual anecdote of mine. I was 3 or 4, so don't judge me! There was a heart breaking conversation between Dak and James in which James crushed Dak's hopes with Lucy, bless them, and the chapter finished with Beau and James helping Lucy practise for the musical! A lot happened didn't it!**

 **A massive thank you to Guest, Winterschild11, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter, and thank you all so much for saying that you loved my poem! It made me so happy to see that you all enjoyed it, as it was definitely something that I was sceptical of! I can also see that you guys are looking forward to the Comit reveal, especially with all the mixed signals that are being spread and its safe to say that a lot more of that will happen! It's also nice to see that you are already becoming conflicted with who you want it to be, and that is making me laugh evilly in my head! Beau is still a dick, much like he is in this chapter as well, and I'm glad to see that you all hate him as much as I did when writing this story. We can only wait to see what happens to him.**

 **Shameless plug here, but if you haven't already then please go check out the story I posted yesterday called The New Frontier and let me know what you think. Thank you to Guest, Winterschild11 and RainbowDiamonds for reviewing it already and I think it's safe to say that I probably will continue it. For the moment, I'll probably just upload it when I have a chapter written, so it won't follow a schedule.**

 **I will see you guys on Monday for the next chapter of Class Vs Character, but until then,**

 **TTFN :D**


	5. Chapter 5: The Game

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Love, James! So, thank you all so much for the support on the last chapter, and let's crack on!**

* * *

"Are you sure about this James? I mean it's Beau! Beau!" Lucy said, as the two of us stood in the music room waiting for him. It seems we'd got here 10 minutes early. Either that, or he's running late by 10 minutes which is probably more likely.

"It'll be fine Lucy. He's just wants to help out" I replied, trying to convince both her and myself.

"Ok, if you think he's cool" she replied with a sigh, just as the door opened and Beau walked in.

"We ready to start?" he asked as he walked in and sat on one of the piano stalls with his legs spread. Lucy just gave me an eye roll and a death stare before she walked over to the drum kit.

"Ok, so I'll you when to start it, and I'll play along and try to match the notes. Anything that sounds out, just let me know" she requested causing the two of us to nod. As she got settled, I made my way over to the stereo, watching as Beau just stared at Lucy. Clearly, he wasn't shy about anything. When she looked up at him, he managed to put on this completely innocent smile which could have fooled me if I wasn't careful. Lucy just smiled back, her cheeks tinting red slightly as she made her final adjustments. "I'm good" she said, as she readied her drum sticks.

With the nod of her head, I pressed play on the stereo causing 'I think I'm gonna like it here' to begin playing. As soon as the notes started, I looked over to see Beau trying to suppress his smile as Lucy began to match the beat as soon as the drums kicked in. The drum beat in this song seemed to be fairly stable, but I guess it was just a way for her to her to warm up.

As the song continued to play, I began to lip sync along with the song, causing Lucy to look up and smirk at me. As soon as she did, I broke into song completely forgetting that Beau was in the room. Lucy let out a laugh as I put my best girl voice on, trying to sing all the parts to the song. Lucy was laughing the whole time, and I could see that even Beau gained a smile at one point. When the song ended, I pressed pause on the stereo slightly out of breath as I did so.

"So, what do you think?" Lucy asked, as I panted trying to recover from all that dancing and singing.

"Yeah, it sounded really good" Beau replied, causing me to nod. "Although I'm surprised you're performing for a musical like that. I mean, you've got this whole rocker chick thing going on" he continued, causing me to shake my head and face palm at his stupid remark. Lucy just looked up at him, with a smirk on her face.

"You dig the rocker look?" she asked, shocking me completely causing Beau to grin.

"Can't say no to a girl in a leather jacket" he flirted back, causing her to blush.

"And as for the musical, I get extra credit for performing in them. It'll help my college applications, especially if I want a scholarship" she replied, before turning her attention back to me. "Ready for the next one?" she asked, causing me to nod. She flashed Beau another flirty smile, before returning to the drum kit.

With another nod of her head, Little Girls began to play and this time, I just decided it was best to sing instead of dancing as well. This time, the two of us noticed a few little mistakes in the timing, but other than that she seemed to do very well something that Beau seemed to comment on constantly. I just began to roll my eyes each time he did it, and I think Lucy took notice after a while as she seemed to smirk each time he did.

Other than that, the two of them started to talk about colleges, with both of them realising that they wanted to end up in New York and they instantly bonded over it. I felt a slight wave of relief wash over me as they did so, due to how well they were actually getting on. At this rate, I shouldn't be too worried about my emails being leaked as Lucy really seemed to be interested in what Beau was saying.

"Ok, so there is one more I wanted to practise" Lucy said, finally breaking the conversation between the two of them and including me once more.

"Sure which one?" I asked, walking back over to the stereo not missing how the two of them were looking at each other.

"I don't need anyone but you" she replied, causing Beau to jump on the band wagon instantly.

"Little bit forward, don't you think Lucy" he said as a joke, causing Lucy to break into laughter as she slapped him on the arm playfully.

"That's the name of the song idiot" she replied, as I just rolled my eyes once more looking at the two of them.

"So, we ready?" I asked, hoping to break the two of them out of their giggle fit.

"Yeah, sorry" Lucy replied, wiping a tear out from under her eye as she walked over to the drum kit. She nodded, and I began to play the song but I could tell that she was struggling, especially with Beau making her laugh every time he looked at her. "Can we start again?" Lucy asked, as she stopped playing on the drums. With a groan, I stopped the music, and reset it to the beginning. "And you, stop looking at me!" she said, playfully glaring at Beau, who held his hands up to feign innocence.

"I can't help it" he replied, causing Lucy to throw a spare drum stick at him. "Fine, fine, I'll stop being distracting!" he conceded, causing Lucy to ready up as the song started again. This was one of the songs that I would have to perform so I took it seriously this time as I sang along, trying to remember the words. Lucy struggled with this one in the musical solo, but by the end of the song, she seemed to get it with a little confidence. "Thank you, guys, for this" she said as the three of us started to pack up. Beau was quick to respond before I could.

"No worries, I always happy to help a beautiful girl such as yourself" he responded, causing Lucy to playfully slap him on the arm again.

"Shut it you" she replied, shaking her head as if she didn't care, yet I could notice the faint blush on her cheek.

"Well, I best get home. My parents are probably wondering where I am" I spoke up, reminding the two of them that I was still there, as I slung my back over my shoulder.

"Same here" Lucy said, giving Beau a small wave as the two of us left the room together. I noticed how Lucy looked over her shoulder when we left the room, and that same faint blush settled on her cheeks when she looked back. "Thank you again for this" she said, as we walked through the corridors of the school towards the front doors.

"No worries, it was helpful for me as well as I got to perform one of my songs" I replied, trying to sound sincere. I mean, it was really helpful, you know, aside from the flirting that was happening between the two of them.

"And you were right. Beau was totally cool, he was super helpful" Lucy said, that rose tint returning to her cheeks.

"Yeah, he was helpful" I replied, causing her to continue with the conversation despite my lack of response.

"And who knew that he also wanted to go to New York!"

"Uh uh"

"I mean, at first I thought he was just there to take the mick out of us, but he seemed to get really into it"

"Yeah" I replied, shaking my head in an attempt to zone back in and seeing that we were in the car park. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow" I continued, flashing a smile her way before getting into my car, and making my way home, the whole session in review and more specifically the fact that the emails probably won't be leaked.

I was completely overwhelmed with joy, and the only thing that was putting a damper on the situation was the fact that I had to manipulate two of my best friends in order for it to happen.

So nothing too bad right?

* * *

Friday had finally descended onto the school, and that meant the football game was finally upon us. As Jett, Dak and Kendall made their way into the changing rooms to get ready, Camille, Logan, Lucy and I headed over to one of the food trucks on campus. For some unknown reason that continues to escape me, football is taken very seriously at our school to the extent that outside catering is hired in order to appease everyone.

I shouldn't complain really, I mean where else am I going to get a decent burger this close to campus? While Camille and Lucy were being served, I browsed the menu wondering if I should get what I always get, or whether to get something different, when I notice Logan going through his wallet next to me. He was rummaging through the pockets and let out a sigh when he couldn't seem to find what he needed.

"What's up?" I asked, nodding to his wallet as he placed it into his pocket. Lucy and Camille stepped away from the truck as this point, and Logan and I were ushered forward.

"It's nothing. I just didn't bring any change with me. I have my card, but these vans don't take it" he replied as his eyes focused on a small tray of cheesy chips that was being handed out.

"Dude, I'll just get it for you" I replied, using my thumb to gesture to the chips. "You just want a tray of cheesy chips?"

"Nah, I'll be fine" he replied obviously trying to be polite, but I could see through it.

"Come on." I responded, using my elbow to shove him slightly so he'd look up at me. As soon as he did, I turned to our server in the van. "Can I have a cheese burger, and a portion of cheesy chips please?" I asked, causing the server to nod, and recite the total.

"5.50 please" she asked, causing me to pull out a $5 note and two quarters. As she stepped away to sort out our order, I looked over at Logan to see he had a small smile on his face "

Thank you for that" he said, causing me to smile back. "And I promise I'll pay you back right away!" he added quickly as I just chuckled and shook my head.

"Dude, seriously, it's like $2. Don't worry about it" I shrugged causing him to smile once again.

"Well, thanks again" he responded, as the woman handed over his tray.

"Sauce is over there" she said, causing Logan to give me one last smile as he walked over to the sauce dispenser. For some odd reason, I took notice of how he put his ketchup on in a pattern, and that made me smile as it warmed my heart. Finally, my cheeseburger was handed over to me, and after smiling at our server once more, I joined Logan over by the sauce. Unlike Logan, I just pressed the pump until I deemed the amount sufficient and when he gave me a small bit of side eye, I just grinned before leading the pair of us over to where Lucy and Camille had saved us a couple of seats.

It looked like most of the school was currently on the field, either loitering about by the multiple food stands or sat in one of the three stands that surrounded the pitch. Like I said, the school takes sports very seriously. When the finally found the two girls, Logan sat down first, meaning that I had an empty space next to me, one that I used to place my bag on. I was planning to use it as a barrier in case I got an email during the game. It was very unlikely, as Comit said that he was attending the game tonight but just in case he did, I wanted to be ready.

"So James. Are you ready to prove your worth as a psychic?" Logan said from next to me with a grin, causing Lucy and Camille to stop their conversation in favour of ridiculing me apparently.

"Hey, I'm a great psychic!" I responded, causing all three of them to raise their eye brow at me. "Ok, to prove my point. I've got a feeling that we will not only win this game, but that we will win it by five goals"

"Want to bet on it?" Lucy asked, raising both her eyebrows at the suggestion.

"Not a chance" I replied, causing all of us to crease up laughing. "I don't hold much stock in it. But I do think we'll win"

"We'll see. You seemed pretty sure of yourself at lunch" Logan said, a smile still present on his face as he began to nibble on his chips.

"Hey guys, do you mind if I sit here?" I heard from my right, and I looked up to see Carlos. He was pulling almost a puppy dog face that I just couldn't say no to.

I grabbed my bag, and placed it in front of me instead, tapping the seat as I said "Of course not" with a smile. His face lit up like a Christmas tree as he took a seat next to me.

"Thanks guys. I mean, I love my friends, but there is only so much of Jo Taylor that I can take" he said with a chuckle, causing me to smile.

"Yeah, I get that with Camille" I quipped, joining in with Carlos' chuckle. When I looked over at Camille, I got hit in the face with a wet fry causing Logan and Lucy to laugh along with her. "Hey!" I said as I wiped the mayonnaise off my face.

"That's what you get for insult me" Camille said, with a completely innocent voice as she batted her eyelids at me like some sweet child. I just scoffed, before turning my attention back to Carlos, who was staring straight ahead as he fiddled with his sleeves.

"So, how you doing with the script?" I asked, turning his attention back to me, something I noticed he blushed at.

"Yeah, much better thanks. I should be off script by Christmas at this rate. Thank you so much for the help"

"No worries, and if you ever want to do it again, just let me know" I replied, seeing a huge smile grow on his face.

"Really?" he replied, and I could hear how jovial he was.

"Of course! Camille and I would love to give you a hand" I replied, smiling back at him. Carlos' smile seemed to falter slightly for a second but was quickly recovered.

"Thanks" he said again, before looking out onto the pitch. I looked over as well to see that all the guys were coming out from the tunnel, signalling that the match was about to begin. Immediately, the stand around me erupted into cheers and screams as I covered over my ears in an attempt to save my hearing. I could see Logan had done the same thing, while Carlos had joined in with the fun.

This was definitely going to be an interesting game.

Throughout the match, Carlos, Camille and Lucy seemed to be wild for the crowd activities, while I just sat idly by with Logan. I mean, we would cheer if our team scored a goal but we didn't involve ourselves in the chanting or the throwing of drinks cans, which for some bizarre reason seemed to be something that happened a lot.

I was just glad that we were sat closer to the top of the stand.

* * *

It seems that I was a little more psychic than I had actually anticipated, considering that the Palm Woods Rangers won the match, but only by two goals instead of the five I 'predicted.' Camille didn't seem happy when I continued to talk about it.

"Told you, I'm psychic!" I shouted as the five of us walked down onto the pitch to greet Kendall, Dak and Jett.

"Seriously dude, you're still going on about that?" Kendall asked as we approached.

"Yeah, cause you all doubted me!" I responded, sticking my middle finger up to them as well as sticking my tongue out.

"You're not psychic" Camille said, trying to swat my finger away as I swore at her. "There was like a 50% chance you were going to be right. You just got lucky."

"Actually there was a 33.3% chance" Logan chimed in. "Win lose or draw" he continued, causing Camille to give him a death stare.

"See, even Maths can prove that I'm a psychic!" I stated, pointing at Logan before returning to my previous state of tongue out and finger up.

"Whatever, we're gonna go get changed. Meet you at Sundaes in 15 minutes?" Dak asked, causing everyone to mummer in agreement apart from Carlos, which I took notice of.

"Is Carlos alright to tag along?" I asked, causing Kendall, Jett and Dak to exchange a quick look as if to communicate with each other.

"Sounds good" Kendall replied with a smile before the three of them headed into the changing rooms. As the rest of us walked away, I could see the smile on Carlos' face.

"Thanks for that James" he said as he sped up to walk next to me.

"Don't worry about it dude, it's chill" I replied, glancing down at him with a smile.

"Um, could one of you guys give me a lift? I walked in today" Logan asked, and I nodded.

"Yeah, sure" I replied, turning my attention from Carlos to Logan. I noticed how his hands were shoved in his pockets, and how he was shifting kinda awkwardly.

"Thanks James. You've been a real saviour tonight"

"No problemo" I replied, as the small group of us split up, getting ready for part 2 of the night.

The rest of the night consisted of everyone joking and chatting about the game. During it, Kendall seemed to get another injury, one that everyone was quick to ridicule.

"Seriously guys, this isn't funny. It actually kinda hurt" Kendall said through all the laughter.

"Dude, you graze your knee on the grass." Jett said, patting Kendall on the back, who proceeded to pout.

"Friction burn" was all Kendall said, causing the table to crease up even further.

"Are you sure you should even be playing football?" Dak asked, causing Kendall's pout to further.

"Hey! I used to play it with my dad! It's a fond childhood memory for me!" he defended, and I have instantly flashbacks to what Comit had said in his emails. The thought of Kendall being Comit resurfaced, but then again, I'd had that same thought about Carlos who was currently eating an M&M waffle next to me.

The whole situation made me think about the emails themselves. Comit and I had agreed at the beginning of the whole thing that we wanted it to stay anonymous, so why was I so desperate to find out who he was?

Maybe I was a lot deeper than I thought I was. It would explain why I was willing to manipulate my best friends so quickly.

And there came the depressing thoughts.

* * *

 **So there we have it! Beau and Lucy seemed to hit it off during the practise for the play, and then we had the match, with Logan and Carlos both spending some time with James. To finish, we had the Sundaes visit as promised, and that included Kendall sharing a bit of information about him playing football with his dad! And so the mystery deepens!**

 **A massive thank you to Guest, EpicallyObsessed, Winterschild11 and RainbowDiamonds, and I'm glad to hear that you all enjoyed reading the emails the two of them shared! I had such a blast writing them, and the ones in the next chapter as well, so I'm so glad to hear that you are enjoying! Also, I know what you mean about James and Dak and a lot of you said that you can see both sides, which I'm glad about, cause I was really worried that James would just sound like a selfish prick. It is really difficult for him in this situation, as like you said, he just can't win!**

 **Another shameless plug but if you haven't already, make sure to check out the latest chapter of The New Frontier, and I will see you all on Monday for the next chapter of Class Vs Character! But until then,**

 **TTFN :D**


	6. Chapter 6: Holopeen

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Love, James! So, if you couldn't tell from the title, this chapter is going to focus heavily on Halloween, and I have to say that this is one of my favourite chapters in this whole story! Well, this, the next chapter, and the one where Comit is finally revealed!**

 **Anyway, I'm rambling a little, so I'll let you get reading! Oh, and just to clarify, the anecdote from James is true once again...Enjoy!**

* * *

To: comitinthestars  
From: lostinthemoment  
Subject: Holopeen

 _Comit  
_ _Halloween is only a few days away now, and some would consider it to be one of the best nights of the year. Trick or Treating provides the younger kids a chance to get a literal bucket load of sweets that you would eat in the course of a day, and for the adults, an excuse for you to get dressed up, party like there is no tomorrow, and maybe scare a few kids along the way. Horror movies come in waves, as everyone hosts viewing parties to watch the 'old classics' as well as gaining the slight chance to scare their friends while they do so._

 _Doesn't this all sound so horrific?_

 _As you can probably tell, I am not the biggest fan of Halloween, probably due to some childhood trauma which I'm sure you don't want to hear about. Point is, I don't like Halloween, and living in a country that is obsessed with it poses a slight problem for me. All the houses get decorated in my area, causing me to be constant alert as I fear that something will jump out at me, and I refuse to answer the door to the trick or treaters! As for the adult side of Halloween. It is also safe to say that I do not like scary movies at all. Why would I like to be scared! Why would anyone want to be scared! Despite what everyone says, it is not a nice feeling, and I stand by that wholeheartedly._

 _The problem that I face this year however is that I have been invited to a party, one that I kind of have to attend much to my distaste. Who knows, maybe I'll enjoy it. Anything can happen right? I would love to hear your views on Halloween as I have some pretty strong ones. Who knows, maybe you just don't care for it._

 _Lost_

To: lostinthemoment  
From: comitinthestars  
Subject: Re: Holopeen

 _Lost,  
_ _I regret to inform you that I am among the many who love Halloween and everything that accompanies it. I love watching scary movies and feeling the suspense of them as you know a jump scare is coming! Of course, all that suspense and knowledge doesn't stop you from jumping when the scare comes, only adding to the whole moment of it. Much like your area, mine also becomes completely decorated and I love to walk through it and see who has done what. I remember one year, a house had it so when you walked past, a cardboard cut out of Jason would come out from a bush, scaring you completely! God, that was amazing._

 _As for trick or treating, I loved it as a kid but never really got the chance to trick anyone. I suppose that was a good thing really, but I always wanted to TP or egg someone's house because they didn't give me enough sweets. Now though, I always answering the door in some sort of costume for the small chance that I'll scare the child, yes, I love it that much. I am intrigued however by this childhood trauma you mentioned especially if it is as good as the bee one. Please share it with me?_

 _As for your 'problem' I advise just going and having a good time. You don't need to get super wasted and your costume doesn't have to be perfect as most people will be pissed anyway. Try to have fun with a few of your friends and maybe the night will be enjoyable. If nothing else, it'll be a chance for you to watch as people stumble around while drunk, making a fool of themselves and not much is funnier than that._

 _Comit_

To: comitinthestars  
From: lostinthemoment  
Subject: Holopeen

 _Comit,  
_ _Thank you for the advice about the party, it was really useful. And you are right, not much is funnier than that, except when they try to get you involved. Like no thank you, random person that I've only met once._

 _Since you asked so nicely, I suppose I should tell you about my traumatic experience, something I seem to have a lot of. I was 6 at the time, and like any kid I was excited to answer the door to the trick or treaters. So, when the doorbell rang, I ran to the front door ready to fulfil my purpose of handing out the sweets. I opened the door, ready to be greeted by my fellow peers in a costume, but instead I was greeted by a man in a wolf mask. Before I could respond, I remember him jumping into my house and pinning me down to the stairs while pretending to make wolf noises. I obviously squirmed and tried to fight back to try and get away, and when I looked to my left, I saw that my dad was stood there watching with a huge smile on his face. Eventually, the man above me stopped and when he took of his mask, I realised that it was uncle and the reason why Dad didn't intervene was because he was my auntie at the bottom of the driveway._

 _I made light of what had happened in the moment, but since that day I haven't been able to answer the door without being slightly frightened and have hated Halloween ever since. I hope you enjoyed that story as much as the bee one, and I'm not sure how I feel about you taking pleasure in my PSTD without giving me anything in return. So, care to share?_

 _Lost_

To: lostinthemoment  
From: comitinthestars  
Subject: Re: Holopeen

 _Lost,  
_ _That was the best thing I have ever read, so thank you for sharing it with me! As for me sharing back, I will make a promise now that if when we hit a time of year where I have experienced a traumatic event, I will share it with you to make sure that we are even. Although, it sounds like my life has been fairly mundane compared to yours._

 _Who knows, maybe one year I will be there to protect you when Halloween comes around and even help you conquer a few of your fears. I think horror films about be a good place to start. Maybe we could cuddle together for protection?_

 _Comit_

* * *

Since today was Friday, and Halloween was tomorrow, I knew that everyone would be dressing up today to make the most of the 'Halloween season.' Not being a massive fan of the 'Halloween season' but knowing I would have to dress up, I decided to do something simple and put on my suit jacket and a pair of formal trousers as well as styling my hair slightly differently. The final touch was the pair of sun glasses I kept in my car.

As I pulled into the car park at school, you could clearly see who had made the most of today. People were dressed as all sorts, from superheroes to mummies to even some of the slutty cop and cat outfits from the girls. _'Why can't guys wear crop tops like that'_ the fleeting thought passed through my head but was removed as soon as I heard someone slam against my car window.

I jumped and let out a very high pitched squeal, shifting away from the window as I turned to see who I was. I expected it to be Dak against, but instead it was a black haired kid that I don't think I'd even seen before. He was dressed as a zombie and his make up was so perfect, he looked like a real life zombie. Parts of his face looked as if they had been ripped off and fake blood was smothered around his mouth. The whole time I was studying him, he kept up the act, pretending to claw at the window, accompanied with the noises and everything, which I will admit, did slightly terrify me. I finally reached for the door handle, and the kid seemed to get the point as he moved away to let me out.

"Dude, you looked horrified" he spoke up, laughing as he did so and I instantly recognised the voice.

"Kendall?" I asked, looking at his face a little closer. "Geez, I didn't recognise you!" I continued, joining in with his laughter.

"Thanks. I spent all morning on the make-up so it's nice to know it looks good" he replied, as my eyes shifted to his black hair. He took notice of that and continue to speak. "I dyed it last night. I'll wash out when I next shower"

"That's insane! You must really love Halloween" I continued as the two of us began to walk to the school.

"Yeah, I do, it's one of my favourite holidays. I mean, you get to scare people, and all the horror films come out, it's just amazing!" he replied, a huge smile growing on his face. I just nodded, obviously not feeling the same whatsoever, but not trying to show it. "So, I'm guessing you're some sort of spy?" Kendall asked as we reached my locker.

I nodded with a 'Uh uh' before placing on my sunglasses and putting on a straight face to try and act all serious. "Diamond, James Diamond" I said, pulling off my sunglasses in a suave way to try and perfectly imitate James Bond. I could see the side of Kendall's mouth tug slightly, and before long he was laughing at my attempt. I started to frown slightly, but his laughter seemed contagious and I couldn't stay mad for long.

"Nice try dude" he said through his laughter as he patted me on the back. Once I had finished at my locker, the two of us made our way into the cafeteria to meet up with everyone else.

As we approached the table, I noticed how everyone seemed to rise to the occasion and get fully dressed up. You could say it put me to shame, except that I didn't really care. Camille was dressed up like a witch, going to the extent of having fake moles on her face as well as a prosthetic nose. She was also carrying a broom with her, which seemed to have a black cat plushie glued to it. Lucy had dyed the rest of her hair red and came in dressed up as Poison Ivy from Batman, which is something I haven't seem before, and she was pulling it off.

Dak was dressed up like a gladiator, fully equipped with a plastic sword and shield. I knew he was going to spend the day whacking people with the sword when the teachers weren't looking, so I had prepared myself for a few small bruises. Jett had apparently also decided to dress up simple and came dressed up as Superman, with the suit sticking very closely to his skin. I couldn't quite tell if those were fake abs or not, but I definitely wasn't going to complain about them being on display and finally, Logan was dressed up in a uniform, which was entirely black apart from a red patch running from his shoulders down to the top of his chest. He also had four gold pips by his collar, and around his belt were a few plastic props.

"Nice costume" Kendall said, but it was clear from his voice he didn't have a clue what it was.

"You have no clue who I am, do you?" he asked, causing Kendall to shake his head as he shrugged his shoulders.

"James, you have the final guess. If you don't get it, then no one knows what I've came as" Logan said, and I saw a smug smile settle on his face, at the thought that he'd stumped everyone.

Time to pop that bubble.

"Well, from the tricorder on your belt, I'm guessing you're from the 2370's, and the uniform suggests an intrepid vessel, so I'm going to say that you are Captain Logan Mitchell, of the U.S.S I just owned your ass" I replied, as that smug smile fell from his face, although it seemed to be replaced with one of pride.

"A fellow Star Trek fan?" he asked, causing me to nod.

"Yeah, my Dad's a huge fan, so I watched them with him. I recognised the outfit from Voyager"

"Nerds" Dak coughed from the side of us, causing everyone to laugh including Logan and I.

"I believe the word is actually geek" Logan corrected through his laughter, only making everyone crack up further.

* * *

The day ended with theatre rehearsals like usual, but it was difficult for everyone to concentrate with us all being in costumes. No one could stay serious when you've got a Minotaur and a princess dancing to 'Easy Street' but we all tried for the sake of Miss Wainwright who was clearly enjoying this as much as we were.

Before an hour had even passed, she let us all go knowing that very little was going to be done despite how hard we were trying. Camille, Lucy and I grabbed our bits, and began to talk about today in general, but before we could leave the theatre, I heard my name being called and when I turned around, I see Carlos was walking towards us.

"Hey Carlos, what's up?" I asked, looking at his police officer costume which was very realistic.

"Mr Diamond" he said with a smile as he finally reached us. I just chuckled at his comment as I buttoned up my suit to make it look more professional. "I was wondering if you wanted to come to my house later" he asked, beginning to fumble nervously with his sleeve pockets. I raised my eyebrow at him, and after a few seconds he realised where he left the question. "Oh, I'm hosting a scary movieathon at my house with a few friends and I wanted if you wanted to come? Oh, you too Camille and Lucy" he added onto the end in a rush, noticing that those two were stood with me.

Of course, I have a massive distaste for scary movies and under any normal circumstance I would say no straight away, but I could tell that Carlos was really nervous, and I felt like if I said no, it'd ruin his night. Before I could say anything however, Lucy spoke up.

"I would love to, but I have a…thing" she said, causing everyone to look at her due to her vague answer.

"A thing?" Camille replied snarkily, causing Lucy to reply with a death stare.

"Yeah, a thing. I'm sorry Carlos. Um, I'll see you guys tomorrow?" she replied, causing the three of us to nod as she walked off. That alone made Carlos look so much more disheartened, and the puppy face look was back.

"Yeah, that sounds great" I replied with a smile, hoping that would help in some way. I saw how his face light up with a huge smile as I said it, and it must have been contagious, as I started to smile about a horror movie night as well.

"Really James? I thought you hate scary movies" Camille said, looking at me with an inquisitive look, causing me to shrug.

"Nah, it should be fun" I replied, looking back at Carlos, with a smile.

"Then count me in too" Camille said, glancing over at me. "It will be fun to see you scream like a little girl."

* * *

When we got to Carlos' house that night, it was already dark. Luckily, I had offered Camille a lift and she took it, meaning I wouldn't have to drive home alone. Yes, I was that terrified of tonight, and I kept thinking ' _why the hell did I say yes!_ '

"We don't have to do this James. I can see how petrified you are" Camille said as we pulled up outside Carlos' house.

"Nah, I told Carlos we'd be here and it would be unfair to back out now" I replied, gesturing to his house.

"Then buck up, and let's do this" she replied, as she opened the door and got out of the car. I gave my emails a quick check, and saw that there was nothing from Comit, causing me to sigh as I placed my phone on silent. With one last deep breath, I got out of the car and joined Camille in the approach to Carlos' house.

It was decorated with Pumpkins, some dead plants by the door and a skeleton sat in a chair on the porch and I couldn't help but remember what Comit said about his area being decorated for Halloween. I knew it was a long shot to make the assumption that Carlos was Comit based of this as most of the neighbourhoods were also decorated but I also thought back to Carlos saying how he loved M&M's.

Luckily, I was saved from my thoughts when the door opened, revealing Carlos in the same outfit as earlier.

"Guys, you made it! Come in!" Carlos said with a huge smile on his face, and much like the last one, this was contagious.

"Hey Carlos" I said, walking into his house and wiping my shoes on his mat. As I bent down to take them off, I gave his house a quick look, noticing how clean and modern the whole place looked. I assumed that the cob-webs hanging from the ceiling were fake due to it being Halloween and prayed to god that I wasn't wrong. "So, you have a lot of Halloween decorations" I said, as I placed my shoes down next to Camille.

Carlos replied as he led the two of us into the basement, where the movies were being played. "Yeah, my whole family loves it! We decorated the house ever year, everyone in the neighbourhood does. Most of the time, I just walk around seeing what everyone has done" he stated, my brain making the instant connection to Comit. I just nodded, giving him a small smile as we reached the bottom of the stairs. There were about 10 other people gathered about, three of them I recognised as Peggy, Jenny and Jo, Carlos' best friends, and then there were a few others I knew from theatre. "Guys, you know Camille and James, right?" Carlos announced as Camille and I gave them a small wave.

A chorus of 'hey' sounded through the room and before long, the two of us settled on the floor, close to the TV while Carlos walked over to a small bookshelf.

"So, I was thinking we could start with Halloween, and go from there?" Carlos said, holding up the DVD. Everyone around the room seemed to mumble in agreement as smiles settled onto their faces.

 _'Psychopaths'_ I thought to myself, as I brought my knees up to my chest, and reached to grab the pillow out from behind me. At least that way I could hide if it got too much. As the movie began, Carlos settled in next to me and he seemed to take notice of my prepared position.

"Not a fan of scary movies?" he whispered into my ear.

"It's not that, I just don't like…" I lingered, causing him to whisper "Scary movies" back into my ear. A small embarrassed smile settled on my face, as I already started to hide behind the pillow.

"Don't worry, I'll try to protect you" he whispered back into my ear with a chuckle, causing me to turn to face him. He was sat quite close to me, with our shoulders touching and I could help but notice how warm he felt, it was almost comforting. As I focused on him more, I couldn't help but notice how his eyes were reflecting the light from the TV, causing them to have almost an orange glow to them. I started to notice how lean he actually was, especially with how the uniform settled across his stomach and my mind started to wonder back to the possibility that maybe he was Comit.

If Carlos was Comit, would that be so bad? I mean, Carlos was nice, funny and actually quite attractive.

I suppose the main thing that suck out was, if Carlos was Comit, then why did I have this guilty feeling wash over me whenever I thought like this and did it actually mean anything? Maybe it was just because I didn't have conformation that he was Comit.

I shook the thoughts out of my head, trying to remain focused on this evening. I shifted slightly, and snuggled a little bit closer to Carlos, something that he didn't seem to mind at all.

Yet, the niggling feeling of guilt still remained present at the back of my mind all night.

* * *

 **So there we have it, James and Comit shared their opinions about Halloween, and yes that actually happened to me, and it was horrifying! So, yeah, I have a huge dislike for Halloween, and never answer the door on it. We then had Kendall scare the life out of James by dressing up as a Zombie, and told James how much he loves the holiday? Coincidence? Of course, I had to add a little bit of Star Trek in there with Logan, cause I just couldn't help myself. Finally, to finish the chapter off, we had a Jarlos evening, with Carlos inviting James round to his house for a movie night, and the two of them even snuggled a little bit!**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Guest, RainbowDiamonds, Winterschild11, and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter, and EpicallyObsessed is slightly right, I do like to torture you all! I have to keep the mystery going for at least 7 more chapters... Anyway, it also seems that some of you *cough RainbowDiamonds and Guest cough* don't think that Carlos is Comit, so I wonder how you feel about this chapter? At least we can all agree that Beau an asshole, and that we all feel bad for James bless him. Hopefully this chapter was a nice break from all of the struggles that he is going through, but don't expect it to last for too long.**

 **I will see you all on Monday for the next chapter of Class Vs Character, with will conclude the Taylor's visit, but until then,**

 **TTFN :D**


	7. Chapter 7: Dr Jamie

**Hi guys and welcome back to Love, James! I am super excited to get this chapter out, so let's crack on, shall we?**

* * *

"Happy Halloween!" Dak screamed as he opened the door to his party, which was currently dead. As requested, I was one of the first people to arrive so that I could help him set up. It was something that the three of us always did, if one of us was having a party the other two would turn up a little early to help them. Plus it made it a little less awkward when people actually started to turn up.

"Woah dude" I replied, pressing my finger into my ear indicating how loud he was being. He just chuckled, before walking back into the house as I followed. The place was decorated from head to toe, with pumpkins being set up in most of the windows as well as the black and orange bunting being hung from the ceiling. A skeleton was set up in the corner of the kitchen, and some plastic bats also hung from the roof. Thankfully he didn't have any fake spiders around the place.

"Hey" Camille said as the two of us walked into the dining room, where some food was laid out on the table as well as a large punch bowl, which I'm guessing was supposed to look like blood considering it was red.

"Hey" I replied, walking over and grabbing a plastic cup from the pile. "Dak, does the punch have alcohol in it?" I shouted to him from the dining room since he was busy in the kitchen.

"Yeah, it's basically a massive cosmopolitan" he shouted back, causing me to sigh.

"Looks like I'll just stick to coke then" I mumbled, causing Camille to look over at me.

"Being the designated driver sucks doesn't it" she replied, causing me to nod.

"Yeah, but at least I know people will get home safe" I replied, as I grabbed a bottle from Dak's mini fridge. Pouring the coke into the red cup, Camille and I continued our conversation.

"Nice glasses by the way" she said, causing me to chuckle. Camille and Dak were the only people outside of my family that knew I wore glasses, as I mostly stuck to contact lenses. However, I felt like they went well with my costume so I decided it was time to reveal one of my secrets to the world.

"Thanks. I think they help me look like a sexy doctor" I replied with a wink, causing her to chuckle.

"Yeah, whatever you say Dr Daddy" she replied, bursting into laughter as she finished. I instantly went bright red with embarrassment, which only made her laugh harder.

"Dak, is there anything I can do. Camille is annoying me already!" I shouted with a tone of playfulness in my voice. Camille continue to laugh, but I heard Dak reply.

"Yeah, can you put some more crisps out please?"

* * *

Within two hours, the party was in full swing and everyone was enjoying themselves. As Spotify's 'Halloween Party' playlist blasted through the house, people were dancing, singing and chatting. Dak had opened the French doors in the dining room, meaning that people were mingling both inside and outside of the house. Luckily, he'd covered the pool over, because as funny as it would be to watch someone go in, the process that followed that was not enjoyable. Especially when you are the resident sober at the party.

I was currently stood by the table, nibbling on a few snacks as I watched everyone enjoy themselves, and I couldn't help but think back to what Comit had said in the emails, ' _try to have fun with your friends.'_ He made it sound so easy, but currently, Camille and Dak were playing an intense game of beer pong against Lucy and Jett, who seemed to be winning, and it wasn't like I could join in with that. Well, I probably could. I mean, there was nothing stopping me from standing with them, and cheering them on like a few others were doing and there was nothing stopping me from having a dance with a few of them once they were finished.

And like Comit said, most people were already pissed, so it's not like they were going to remember it in the morning. As I mentally prepared myself for enjoying the party, I turned back to the snack table, noticing that Logan had joined me at some point. When I looked over at him, he gave me a small smile as he popped a mini bread stick into his mouth.

"Having fun?" he asked, as he reached for another bread stick.

"I will be, what about you?" I asked, noticing that his red cup also had coke in it. "You drinking?" I continued, causing him to shake his head from side to side in reply, popping another bread stick in his mouth. "Same here, I'm the DD" I replied, feeling like I was having a one side conversation. When he finally stopped chewing, he walked over and stood next to me.

"What you mean when you said you will be?" he asked, causing me to chuckle.

"Oh, just that I'm gonna try to get involved instead of singling myself out." I replied, causing a smile to grow on his face.

"Well, it does beat standing around. I mean, I just won tick tack toe against Carlos" he replied, causing me to raise my eyebrow at him.

"I thought you weren't drinking" I stated, as he chuckled.

"I'm not" he replied as I joined in with his laughter. "It's not that I'm not drinking, I'm just taking it slowly"

"Ahh, I see. Well, at least I can count on someone if I need help" I responded, causing him to smile as conversation continued.

"So, you were glasses?" he asked, obviously as shocked as everyone else was.

"Not usually, I try to use contacts, but I felt like they helped with my costume today."

"Doctor. Classic costume, and you can't go wrong"

"I know, plus it was kinda cheap. I mean, it's just a white lab coat, a stethoscope and a couple of pens in the pocket"

"Plus, if you wanted you could be a crazy scientist" He replied, causing me to raise my eyebrow at him once more. "May I?" he asked, gesturing to my hair and for some reason, I felt compelled to say yes. I normally hate people messing with my hair, and today was no exception and yet I found myself bending down slightly so that Logan could reach. I felt him run his fingers through my hair a few times, before using them to rake through it.

"Damn dude, your hair is so thick" he said, as he grabbed a small chunk of it, and began to try and spike it up. Remarkably, and probably due to the amount of hair spray I put into it, it stayed up, causing him to laugh as he continued to make chunks of it stand up. When he was finished, he snapped a picture of it and showed it to me. The best way to describe it was to say that I looked like a porcupine with each part of my hair sprouting off in a different direction. "Perfect" he said as the two of us smiled at the photo.

"I have to say Logan, I do look crazy. Ever considered a future in hair dressing?" I joked, causing him to shove me slightly as he laughed.

"I think I might now" he responded as he turned his camera into selfie mode and started to mess with his hair as a joke. You could see me face palming in the camera as he joked about and before long, the two of us were taking ridiculous selfies as we pulled stupid faces. "Jesus, these are amazing!" he joked, scrolling back through the selfies, landing on one where the two of us were pulling duck faces with my chin resting on his left shoulder. "I think this one is my favourite. New profile pic?" he asked, causing me to shake my head.

"Oh yeah, 100% I think my hair really brings out your eyes" I joked back, noticing how one of my crazy hair strands was right next to his left eye. As the two of us continued to laugh at the selfies, I looked around to see that everyone else was still dancing and having fun, oblivious to the two of us and it made me realised that I didn't need to drink any alcohol to have fun, I just needed to loosen myself off a little bit instead of dreading the night. I glanced back down at Logan, who was still laughing at the photos that we had taken."Hey, do you think you could send me those?" I asked, causing him to look up at me.

"Yeah, sure" he replied with a smile and it was at that moment that the fun I was having was ruined.

"JAMES!" travelled through the house, and I looked around to see where the noise was coming from. As I looked over to the kitchen door, I saw Kendall stumbling into the room.

"That's my cue to leave" Logan mumbled, flashing me a smile that conveyed the message 'I'm not dealing with this' before he walked off.

"Logan wait" I began, but before I could say anything else, I felt Kendall stumble and trip over my shoe. Luckily, he was falling right in front of me, so I was able to reach out and catch him before he hit the ground. As cheesy as it is to say, it was like a scene from a rom-com, with him gazing up into my eyes.

"I didn't know you wear glasses Jamesssss" he said, slurring the S at the end of my name as I hoisted him to his feet. "They suit you. They make you look more like a geek" he continued, before cracking up with laughter in my arms.

"How much have you had to drink buddy?" I asked, trying to keep him supported as he swayed from side to side.

"Only 3 cups of the punch, a couple of ciders and like 5 vodka shots. So, I'm completely sober" he replied with a dopey smile on his face.

"Ok, maybe we should-"

"Oh look Doritos, and *gasp* dip!"

"-get you laid down" I said, as he reached over some Doritos, completely ignoring what I said. Instead of trying to convince him it was the right idea, something I knew would take all night, I piled some Doritos and some other bits onto a plate. "Come on, follow me" I said, placing my arm around his waist as we walked into the kitchen.

I quickly filled him up a glass of water, before making our way towards the stairs. I knew Dak wouldn't mind if I took Kendall upstairs to rest and thankfully his parents were out of town for the night so I didn't have to worry about waking anyone up.

Although, I feel like the party would have done that for me.

* * *

It was a chore trying to get Kendall up the stairs, mostly because he couldn't walk straight so trying to get him to climb a flight of stairs was nearly impossible. Finally the two of us reached the landing safely, and with a little bit of a struggle, I managed to walk us into the guest bedroom. I sat him down on the bed and turned to place the plate of food and the glass of water on the chest of drawers in the room. When I turned back, I was greeted with the side of Kendall talking off his fireman's jacket.

"Woah, dude, what are you doing?" I asked, trying to avert my eyes yet it was difficult when he had such a toned six pack.

"Getting into bed, so Dr James can look after me" he teased, as he began to try and strip out of his trousers.

"Ok, let's not do that ok" I replied, as I pulled the duvet away from the top of the bed. He seemed to take the hint as he stopped undoing his trousers and climbed into the bed.

"Get in bed with me Jamie" he said, before giggling manically. "Jamie" he repeated as he continued to laugh to himself. The whole time, I just stared at him noting how seriously pissed he was. There was no way he was going to remember this in the morning. When his laughter finally died down, he spoke up again. "Dr Jamie, I want some Doritos" he mumbled as he rolled my side to side in the bed. I just rolled my eyes, before speaking.

"Sit up then. I don't want you choking while you eat" I replied, moving my arm under his back to help him sit up against the headrest. He was surprising warm and I could feel how muscular he was from when his back muscles flexed as he sat up. In his half dazed state, the blond started to make grabby hands towards the plate causing me to chuckle as I reached over and grabbed it. "Here you are" I said, handing him the plate.

"Umm, Doritos" he said as he began to munch down on a couple of them. Even in this drunken state, Kendall was surprisingly cute. His eyes were a beautiful green colour, something I hadn't really noticed before and he gained small dimples when he smiled. "Oh, mini bread sticks as well! You're the best Jamie thank you!" he gasped, causing me to chuckle.

"Don't worry about it dude" I replied with a smile causing him to look up at me.

"You really are the best though Jamie. It's like you're a real doctor looking after me. A really really nice doctor" he continued, causing me to shake my head.

"You want some water?" I asked, trying to ignore what he said. He just nodded as he went back to eating some of the stuff on his plate as I reached for the water.

"Did I ruin your night?" he asked from behind me, and when I turned around, I could see that he was frowning slightly.

"No, of course you didn't" I replied, shaking my head in order to emphasis the point.

"I'm sorry Jamie, I didn't mean to ruin your night" he continued, now completely ignoring me. "I just wanted you to have fun, especially after the other day" he continued, and that sentence alone made me nearly drop the glass of water. Luckily, my brain clicked back into gear and I was able to stop it from slipping from my hands.

"The other day?" I asked as I turned back to him. He was sat there with a sad smile on his face as he looked up at me.

"Yeah, the other day. When I banged on your window" he began, and I felt my heart slow significantly. For some reason, the thought of Kendall being Comit had made my brain go haywire.

Could you imagine, the guy I had been talking to over email being laid in bed with me looking after him?

"I said about how much I loved Halloween, and you didn't say anything, so I guessed that you didn't like it. I was thinking I could maybe come over and get you to dance with me but here we are" he continued, gesturing to the bed around him. Before I spoke, I handed him the glass of water and he started to take a few small sips of it.

"Kendall, you didn't ruin my night, don't worry about it. And you're right, I'm not a big fan of Halloween, but trust me when I say that I'm having plenty of fun" I replied, causing him to smile as a million thoughts ran through my mind.

' _If Kendall is Comit, then he's very good at keeping it quiet. Of course, there is no reason for him to think that I'm Lost, so why would be say anything?_ ' was the prevailing thought and to be honest, it was true. Why would Kendall say anything about being Comit, if he didn't know I was Lost? In that way, he's in the same position as me, if he is Comit of course. I was snapped from my thought process when I heard Kendall say my name.

"Jamie, can we go back downstairs now?" he asked, trying to pull his best puppy dog face. "I feel bad for keeping you up here. I promise I won't drink anymore" he continued, sticking his bottom lip out even further. With very little room to disagree, considering I wasn't his mother, I sighed.

"Sure, come on." I said, helping to pull him out of the bed. When he got up, my eyes instantly focused onto his abs and I quickly closed my eyes and shook my head to try and refocus. "Don't forget your jacket and hat" I continued, grabbing them both off the floor and handing them over.

Before long, he was redressed and the two of us were trying to make our way back down to the party.

* * *

When we finally got back down the stairs, which Kendall decided to do on his ass, I noticed how most of our friends were gathered outside and the sight that I was greeted with paled me. "Oh shit" I mumbled under my breath, causing Kendall to look up at me.

"What's up?" he asked, his face filled with genuine concern.

"Oh, it's nothing. Come on, let's get you some fresh air" I replied, as I continued to help him walk with my arm around his waist and his arm over my shoulder. Everyone at the party could quickly glance over at us to see why we were walking in such a way, but when they notice how Kendall was struggling to lift his feet properly, I think they gathered that he was smashed. Eventually, we reached the patio were everyone was stood, and an insane feeling of guilt crashed over us.

"Hey guys" I said, swallowing the massive lump that had formed in my throat. "What's going on?" I continued, glancing over at Lucy, who was securely held in Beau's arm. I could feel Dak staring at me, and when I finally made eye contact with him, he looked furious. Luckily, Camille spoke up next, breaking the tension.

"James, there you are! Logan said you were looking after Kendall but he didn't know where you'd gone" she said, causing Kendall to start giggling next to me.

"Dr Jamie and I were in bed together. He was looking after me" Kendall teased, which caused my face to redden instantly and everyone in the group looked at me with their eyebrows raised. Kendall was still giggling manically next to me, and I don't think it helped that he was hung off me.

"What he meant was that I took him up stairs to lie down. He's completely pissed"

"But I promise Dr Jamie that I wouldn't drink for the rest of the night so that I didn't ruin it" he continued, nodding his head as he tried to pull a serious face to show how serious he was being. Of course, that was enough to cause everyone to start snickering in the group.

"So, what's up with you guys. Having fun?" I replied, causing everyone else to nod. Well everyone apart from Dak, who was still giving me daggers.

"Yeah, I was just telling everyone about Beau and me. We've started seeing each other" Lucy said, with a smile on her face. It looked like it was genuine but at the same time, I didn't know if I could sense a little bit of misery in there.

"Oh yeah, that's great" I replied, now turning my attention to Beau, who was giving me that creepily charming smile. When I raised my eyebrow at him, in the silent question of 'will you deleted the emails,' he shook his head as his smile continued. At that moment in time, I really wanted to punch him. Like full on punch him right across the jaw.

To me, it was perfectly justified but to everyone else, I bet it would probably look like a wild rage of jealously. I was saved from my murderous thoughts when I heard Dak speak up next.

"Kendall, do you think you could let go of James for a second. I need him to help me with something quickly" Dak asked, flashing Kendall his best fake smile. I knew it was fake because it clearly didn't reach his eyes, but to Kendall, I would seem perfectly genuine.

"Yeah, that fine. I just need you to promise to bring Dr Jamie back to me" Kendall beamed back, pulling him arm off my shoulder. Of course, as soon as he let go, he stumbled massively but luckily Jett was there to catch him.

"There you are buddy" he said, tapping Kendall on the arm, and before long, Dak and I were headed through the house and up to his room. The whole walk, guilt rolled over me in waves and I started to regret what I'd done.

 _'It was all in self-preservation'_ I tried to argue, but then I shook my head _'What good is self-preservation when you have no one else. Then you're just lonely'_ I argued back, as Dak opened the door to his bedroom. I took a seat on the edge of the bed and he pulled his desk chair out to face me, an awkward air of silence filling the room. I couldn't maintain eye contact with him, my eyes constantly flickering about the room but I could feel his burning into the side of my head. Finally, he gained the nerve to speak.

"So, Lucy and Beau hey. That was a surprise, considering you said that Lucy had a boyfriend back in Oklahoma" he said, and I could hear the sarcasm in his voice.

"I thought she did. She told me that she did" I replied, now looking him in the eyes, trying to steel myself against the oncoming conversation.

"Well, that's funny because when I asked her about it, she told me how she didn't have a boyfriend back home, and the last time she did was last year"

"Then I just got confused. I must have thought she said that she was still dating the last guy. I really thought she was dating someone. I swear!" I stated, hoping to make it believable. Of course, the whole situation was crumbling around me fast, and I was very close to the whole thing completely blowing up. When Dak let out a sigh, I thought the conversation was done with, but then he continued to speak.

"Dude, if you liked Lucy you could have said. I would have backed off" he continued, causing me to shake my head rather vigorously.

"I don't like Lucy!" I replied, causing him to stand up in is chair rather forcefully as it rolled back and slammed into his desk.

"Then why did you lie to me?!" He almost shouted as he began to pace the room. "Dude, I can read you like a book, and Lucy never said anything about having a boyfriend, did she?" she asked, causing me to shake my head as a stray tear began to roll down my face. Here was that explosion I was talking about. "Why did you lie to me. I thought maybe it was because you liked Lucy, which while I was still pissed at, I could understand but now you said you don't, then why do it? Just to toy with my emotions?"

"I can't explain!" I shouted back, pushing myself up off the bed so I was standing face to face with him.

"You can't explain, really dude? That all you've got to say for yourself?"

"I'm sorry I really am, but I just can't. It's all so confusing and I just can't ok" I replied, and I could see that he was shaking his head.

"Dude, I thought we could tell each other everything. We're supposed to be best friends, and best friends don't lie to each other and they certainly don't fuck with each other's lives without having a pretty fucking sound reason to do it."

"I'm sorry." I replied, a few more tears strolling down my face as I sat back down on the edge of the bed. He was still pacing about the room, the music from the house party being the only sound, apart from my sobs, present. I heard it when he stopped pacing, but I wasn't expecting what he said next.

"I think it's best if you leave" he stated, causing more tears to fall from my eyes. I looked up at him, as I took my glasses off and wiped them on my top. His facial expression was completely serious, but I could tell how upset he was just from his eyes. I just nodded, not bothering to try and defend myself anymore. I mean, this was all my own doing and I deserved it.

I pulled myself up from the bed, making sure to try and remove the red circles from around my eyes. I didn't need anyone else to know that I was crying as I began to make my way down stairs, where I could see everyone gathered in the kitchen. They were obviously waiting to see what had happened, but much like me, they didn't expect me to head straight to the front door with Dak right behind me. I opened the door, and just as I stepped outside, I heard Dak's voice speak up again.

"If I can't even trust my best friend, then who can I trust?" he asked, before slamming the door. I broke down further as I headed over to my car.

Not wanting to send another moment here, I turned on the engine and sped away, trying my hardest to keep myself from crying even more.

* * *

 **So there we have it! We had a Jagan, with James and Logan taking selfies with each other and messing out,** **and then Kames moment with James looking after Kendall who was completely hammered. Then we had the massive blow up at the end of the chapter, with Lucy and Beau confessing that they are dating causing Dak to flip out at the fact that James lied to him! This is quite a big moment in the story, so I hope you are all ready!**

 **A massive thank you to Guest, Winterschild11, EpicallyObsessed and RainbowDiamonds for reviewing the last chapter and you would not believe my joy when I found out that you guys aren't massive fans of Halloween either! All of my friends seem to love the holiday, as well as a lot of people that I met, so it's nice to know that I'm not the only one out there. And Guest is right with you saying that it's not so big in the UK, which makes me very happy! I'm also glad that you all enjoyed James' interactions with everyone in the chapter and as usual, RainbowDiamonds seemed to call where Lucy was going! I also can't wait to see what you guys think about this chapter, with the Kames and Jagan moments, so let me know!**

 **If you haven't already, please check out the story that I uploaded yesterday called Rush and Response! It will be the story that replaces Class Vs Character when it ends, which is a long way off, so I only posted it just to get a gauge of what you think.**

 **I will see you guys on Monday for the next chapter of Class Vs Character, and I will admit to you all that for a little while, I was struggling with that story as I felt like I had writers block in trying to get it to the point it is at now, if that makes any sense. Anyway, you'll be pleased to know that I've got past that now, and I'm having so much fun writing it at the moment, so it may very well become longer than Rekindled is, which I never expected, but I hold no promises. Anyway, I'm rambling now, so until Monday,**

 **TTFN 😃**

 **P.S, please let me know if you can see the emoji that I have posted, because if you can, I'm going to start using them a little more!**


	8. Chapter 8: Digging

**Hi guys and welcome back to Love, James! So, so much happened last chapter, and I was so glad to hear your opinions on it, so thank you all for that! This chapter and the next are a continuation of that, so let's crack on shall we?**

* * *

To: lostinthemoment  
From: comitinthestars  
Subject: Party

 _Lost,  
_ _Considering I haven't heard from you, I'm going to guess that the party was a success and that you enjoyed yourself. Well, that's what I hope at least as you deserve the best. My Halloween wasn't so good, I'm not going to lie. I had a little bit of fun but it seems to be more difficult when you have to try and do it alone. Here's to next year!_

 _Some more positive news however is that we have left over sweets from some of the trick or treaters, meaning that I am able to indulge myself to my hearts content. As I said before, anything with M &M's will be gone immediately and the rest I will slowly work through. Well, apart from the coconut ones because who likes coconut in a sweet. Crazy People, that's who!_

 _I suppose now that Halloween is over, we have the next thing to look forward to, which is mock exams, yay! (I hope you can sense my sarcasm) I will never understand why the school places mock exams right after Halloween. Is it their method of torture maybe, saying that we've had too much fun over Halloween and deserve to be punished by being tested? Whatever the case, it is safe to say that I do not feel at all prepared. Maybe a visit to a psychic would be useful, especially if they will be able to tell the questions I will face in the future._

 _Comit_

To: comitinthestars  
From: lostinthemoment  
Subject: Re: Party

 _Comit,  
_ _I was safe to say that my Halloween was alright as well. At the start I was having fun, but things seemed to go downhill from there. As you said, here's to next year. You are right about me being tired, as I was definitely up late last night. I'm sorry to hear that yours sucked as well._

 _As for the sweets, I wasn't so lucky and it seems the kids in my area want to get as many sweets as they possibly can. I hope that you enjoy your collection however and make sure to dispose of the coconut ones as you are completely correct. Only crazy people do eat coconut sweets._

 _I forgot about the mock exams, and I seem to do that every year. I definitely think that it is their way to torture is, as the school seem just like that. Much like yourself, I am not prepared at all and mostly plan to wing them. At least that way, it tests what I know right?_

 _Lost._

I really wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone today, especially after what had happened last night with Dak. As I had said to Comit, I really was enjoying myself at the party for a little while, even when I was having to look after Kendall. Of course, we had to go downstairs, and Lucy and Beau had to decided to flaunt their relationship in front of everyone. Of course, that set Dak off leading to our massive fall out and now I'm pretty sure I just lost one of my closest friends. And to add insult to freaking injury, Beau hadn't help up his end of the bargain and had kept the emails!

Half of my mind was telling me to say fuck it and tell everyone the truth about the whole situation and to properly apologise to Dak, but the other half of my brain was thinking rationally and I knew I couldn't do that. It wasn't just my secret on the line, but Comit's as well, and I knew that if the emails got leaked, Comit would completely freak out. He would never talk to me again and probably wouldn't have the confidence to come out any time soon, and it wasn't fair for me to force that on him. I had spent most of last night crying over what had happened hence why I was up so late and now I just feel tired and drowsy, wanting to spend the rest of the day in bed.

As I sighed, I heard a small ding go off, signalling that another email from Comit had come through.

To: lostinthemoment  
From: comitinthestars  
Subject: Re: Party

 _Lost,  
_ _I'm sorry to hear that your night was bad as well, and I'm also sorry to hear that you were up all night. Just remember if you ever need to talk anonymously, then I am always here for you._

 _As for the mock exams, just remember that they don't mean anything, so I wouldn't worry about them too much, especially if you have something else going on._

 _I hope that you are ok_

 _Comit._

The email was sweet and even managed to bring a small smile to my face. After reading through it a couple of times, I decided to pull myself out of bed knowing that I would only feel worse if I laid there all day. I needed something to occupy my mind, and I knew that video games would be the best way to do that, after I got some breakfast and showered.

I made my way downstairs to find my mum sat on the sofa, doing some of her work like usual. As I passed the door and walked into the kitchen, I could hear her put her stuff down and join me.

"Morning honey" she said, as she walked over to the coffee machine, and poured herself a new cup. "Want one?" she asked, gesturing to the pot causing me to nod. As she reached into the cupboard and pulled out a mug, she asked me the once question I was dreading. "So, how was the party?"

"Yeah, it was good" I replied, as I grabbed a few slices of bread from the cupboard.

"You sure, because you came home quite early last night. You were only there for like, three hours"

"Four mum, and yeah everything's ok. Dak said he had a few family members coming around today so he didn't want the party to go on for too long at his. They moved it to Jett's house after that, but some people wanted a lift home, so I helped them out. There's only so much fun you can have when you don't drink" I joked, causing her to chuckle as I placed the toast into the toaster.

"Yeah, I suppose. Well, as long as you had fun, that's all that matters" she replied with a smile, before taking a sip of her coffee. "Your father had to nip out to work, something to do with a client moaning about their plans. He might not be back until late, so just help yourself to some lunch and that today ok?" she continued, causing me to nod in reply. She gave me another smile, as she walked over and gave me a hug. After a brief few seconds, we separated and she headed back into the living room to continue her work.

When the toast popped, I quickly slathered it in butter before heading back up to my room, ready to forget about everything and everyone for a while.

* * *

A couple of hours had passed like a matter of minutes and I was hoping to continue that for the rest of the day, but it was interrupted when I heard conversation from downstairs. "Camille, hi! How are you? Did you enjoy the party last night?" I heard my mum asking, and I entered a frenzy to try and get downstairs before Camille said the wrong thing.

"Yeah, it was fine, thank you. I had a lot of fun"

"Aw, that's good. Did you want anything, a glass of water maybe?" I heard as I finally got my door opened and stood at the top of the stairs.

"Oh hey Camille, I didn't expect to see you today" I said, looking at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Hey, I just wanted to come and see how you were doing" she replied, before turning back to my mum. "And I'm fine thank you Miss Diamond" she finished with a smile, causing my mum to chuckle.

"Honey, you know you can call me Brooke. I'll let you two catch up" Mum replied, before turning back into the living room. Camille quickly took off her shoes when I beckoned her up to my room, and before long, she was sat on the edge of my bed and I was very nervously sat in my desk chair. She was staring at me, and from her facial expression I knew she knew.

"So…" I said, swivelling from side to side with nerves.

"So, what the hell happened last night. You walked out of Dak's house crying, not that anyone else could tell, and when I asked why, he just said that you needed to get your parents. Luckily everyone else bought it, but I know James. What happened?" she asked, her tone quiet yet forceful. It was clear I wasn't going to be able to bullshit my way out of this one, but I'd be damned if I wasn't going to try.

"I had to get my parents?" I tried, but even I knew it sounded more like a question than an answer.

"I want the truth James, what the hell happened!" she snapped, causing me to sigh.

"Ok, fine. But you can't tell anyone. It was just a massive misunderstanding between Dak and I ok" I began, still swivelling on my chair in nerves. "So, a few weeks ago, before the Friday game we went to, Dak rang and said that he really liked Lucy and was thinking of asking her out. But I swore I had heard her say that she had a boyfriend back in Oklahoma and that maybe it wouldn't be the best idea of him to do it," By this point, Camille had settled back on the bed a little bit and she had grabbed one of my pillows in order to get comfy. Luckily, I hadn't bothered to make my bed that day, not like it would have stopped her. "So anyway, flash forwards to yesterday where I was stood around with Logan, and next minute, Kendall comes up to me and he is completely out of it. So, I felt like I needed-"

"Yeah yeah, Kendall told us all this after we asked him what he meant when he said that you were in bed together. You could tell he was completely sloshed but he said that he wanted you to enjoy the night so he came up to you and asked to dance. What we didn't expect was for him to explain how he started to strip in front of you" she replied, causing me to blush slightly. "But that's not I asked. What happened between you and Dak when you and Kendall came down?" she refocused the question causing me to sigh.

"So obviously, Lucy and Beau said that they were seeing each other and I could see how completely pissed off Dak was. I mean, you would be considering what I told him and everything. I was already feeling so bad because I felt like I had lied to him, but I swear Lucy mentioned to me that she had a boyfriend back in Oklahoma. So, as you saw he asked me to help him out with a task as a cover but the two of us headed up to his bedroom."

"James, it wasn't a very good cover. I mean, sure everyone else bought it, but I knew that he was going to have a go. If you looked close enough you could see the smoke coming from his ears"

"So anyway, when we got upstairs, he started to lay into me about how I lied to him, but I swear that Lucy told me once that she had a boyfriend back home. Apparently Dak asked her and she said that the last guy she dated back home was last year, so I told him that I must have got confused. I mean, I'm not going to purposely screw over my best friend, am I?" I asked, hoping to god that she would say 'no of course not.' I knew I was just digging a deeper hole at the moment, but the only other way to get out of this was to tell the truth and I sure as hell aren't ready for that.

"I hope not" Camille replied with a small smile, and I knew that I was in the clear. Well, in a very foggy, confusing version of clear considering all the lies I had told but still, she bought it.

"Anyway, so then he said to me, and I quote 'Dude, if you liked Lucy you could have said. I would have backed off' and I was like 'What, of course I don't like Lucy!' so then he asked why I lied to him. I tried to tell him that I didn't lie, and that it was an honest mistake but he wouldn't listen. Eventually he asked me to leave, and of course I couldn't help but cry a little. I mean, he's one of my best friends and he didn't believe me but I knew it would be best if I left. So, I started to walk downstairs, and when I got out the door, do you know what he said?" I asked, causing her to shake her head. By this point, a few more tears had welled in my eyes and as bad, as horribly bad as it sounds, I knew they would help my case. "He said 'if I can't even trust my best friend, then who can I trust?' before he slammed the front door." I finished, letting one tear fall.

As soon as it did, I saw Camille move so that she come comfort me, and I knew that she believed me. "Oh James, I'm so sorry!" she began, pulling me into a hug. "You know what Dak's like, he's probably just a little hurt but if you thought Lucy had a boyfriend, then why would you tell Dak to go for it. You were obviously trying to do what was best for him, even though you got it wrong" she continued, as I felt the tears fall even more. "Hopefully this will all blow over in a few days. Just give him a little time and he should see that you were just doing what you thought was right" she finished, as she pulled back out of the hug, with a sad smile on her face.

The room was filled, with an air of silence, when her phone started to go off. "Oh, I've got to go, but I'll see you tomorrow ok?" she asked, as I began to lead her back downstairs. I nodded, and gave her one last hug, but before she left she quickly said. "Oh, and you may want to check on Kendall. He cried after you left yesterday, saying it was all his fault that you did" She added, and for some reason that made me chuckle.

"I'll talk to him tomorrow. I don't really feel like talking to anyone today" I replied, causing her to give me another sad smile.

"Well, see you tomorrow ok?" she replied, before she left the house.

Of course, as soon as the door clicked shut I sprinted back upstairs where I proceeded to cry for a good hour or so again. This whole thing was massively spiralling out of control and there was very little I could do at the moment to stop it.

' _Well, very little apart from telling the truth.'_ My brain supplied, but I quickly shook that thought out of my head. All because of fucking Beau, I've managed to get myself into this terrible situation. I've lost one of my best friends because I had to lie to him in order to protect myself and I've just lied to my other best friend about lying to my other best friend because I didn't want her to know the truth either.

Hopefully, Camille won't talk to Dak, or this whole thing will get about ten times worse. And I really didn't need that at the moment.

* * *

 **So there we have it! Comit admitted that his Halloween wasn't very good either, and then we had Camille come round to check on James. He then lied to her about what happened, only digging deeper. Surely this can't end well, can it? I have to admit, I was very sceptical when rereading over this chapter, as I wasn't sure if it gave too much away. But, like usual, I do think it works well so I left it in.**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Guest, RainbowDiamonds, Winterschild11 and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter, and I'm so happy you all enjoyed it! Like I have said any a time now, that one is easily one of my favourite chapters in the story, so I'm so glad you thought so as well! You all also seemed to love James as a doctor, which I also love so much, especially with him in glasses! You also seemed to like the idea of Kendall being Comit, but like I always say, you'll have to wait and see. You all seemed to feel sorry for Dak and James, which was nice to see, and it was definitely an interesting story to write because of that. On one hand, you want to feel sorry for James because he is going through all of this stuff and he can't tell anyone about it, but on the other, it's times like this where he is making it worse for himself because he was no other option.**

 **Let me know what you think about James lying to Camille, as well as what you thought about the emails! Also, I'm so glad that you can see the emoji!**

 **I will see you all on Monday for the next chapter of Class Vs Character, but until then,**

 **TTFN 😃**


	9. Chapter 9: Negotiations

**Hi guys and welcome back to Love, James! Again, I don't really have a lot to say here, so lets crack on shall we?**

* * *

Suffice to say when Monday came around, I was not ready to face anyone, especially Dak but I knew that I would have to considering we shared the same friendship group. As I pulled into the car park at the school, I looked around to see anyone that I recognised and my eyes instantly focused in on a certain blond in my rear view mirror. I reached over and grabbed my bag and just as he walked past the car, I opened the door.

"Kendall, hey wait up" I said, calling after the blond, and I saw how when he stopped, his shoulder slumped slightly.

"Hey James" he replied, with a tone of sadness in his voice as he turned around, and I could see he had a rather sceptical look on his face.

"Hey, you feeling any better? I mean, you were pretty hammered the other night" I joked, but I could see how he frowned slightly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just sorry you had to look after me" he replied, but I just shook my head.

"Dude are you serious? I didn't mind looking after you. Camille said that why you thought I left?" I asked, causing him to nod slightly. "Seriously dude, I didn't mind it one bit. You were a pleasure to look after. Well, apart from when you started to strip" I joked, and this time I saw him smile slightly.

"So, I didn't ruin your night?"

"Don't be ridiculous. I had tons of fun. It just a shame my parents needed picking up. I was looking forward to dancing with you" I replied, as I tried to make the lie convincing. He seemed to buy it, his smile widening as he continued to walk into the school. "So, how much of the night do you remember?" I asked, causing him to blush slightly.

"Pretty much all of it. I can get super pissed and still remember a lot. I'm sorry about stripping off by the way" he replied, as we walked over to his locker.

"Don't worry about it. All you wanted to do was get into bed" I chuckled, as I saw a few people turn their heads towards us.

"Yeah, I felt pretty tired" Kendall said, raising his voice at the end slightly so people got the hint. A lot of them just shrugged as they continued to pass by, probably because they were at the party, and remembered how drunk Kendall was. When Kendall finally gathered the bits he needed, the two of us began to make our way into the cafeteria and while we idly chatted, my mind went into a world of its own.

 _'It's a good thing I didn't try to see if Kendall was Comit because he probably would have remembered a lot of what I said. And knowing Comit, that definitely would have freaked him out'_

"So, yeah. I pretty much spend the whole of yesterday in bed. Luckily though, I didn't throw up, so that was great" he continued, with a smile as he looked up at me. When I looked down at him, I could see how his facial expression suddenly became sincere. "I just want to say thank you for looking after me. I meant what I said, you are the best"

"Honestly, you don't need to thank me Kendall. I was just doing what was best for you. What else do you expect from Dr Jamie" I joked, trying to downplay what he had said. I definitely wasn't the best, if anything I was the farthest from it at this point, not that he knew it.

"Seriously though James. No one else looked after me, and everyone could see how drunk I was. You really did help in sobering me up, so thank you" I could tell how sincere he was being about this, and I knew it would only piss him off if I continued to argue with him. Instead, I just accepted it.

"That's what friends are for" I replied flashing him a smile back. I saw a small blush settle on his face as I did so but he was more than quick to smile back.

* * *

As the two of us arrived into the cafeteria, I was quick to scout out our table. Everyone else was gathered around the table, and Dak was sat as far away from Lucy and Beau as possible, who were currently in their own little world as they talked. Just from looking at Dak, you could feel the tension rolling off of him in waves, and it seems that I was staring at him for too long, as he looked up and made eye contact with me.

I gave him a small, sad smile but his face was completely emotionless as he stared back. I swallowed the lump that had gathered in my throat before Kendall and I made our way over to the table. Camille looked over to me and gave a small smile, which was indication enough that Dak hadn't told her what actually happened, and that settled my nerves slightly.

"Hey guys" I said, as Kendall and I sat, with me choosing to sit closer to Lucy and Beau in order to avoid any unnecessary conflict. A chorus of "hey" sounded around the table, but I couldn't help but notice the awkward tension that filled the air. Everyone was still talking and chatting but it didn't feel like it had the same heart as it usually did. I was hoping that could be pinned on the introduction of Beau into the social group, with everyone being slightly cautious around him but a small part of me knew that wasn't true. Luckily, Logan engaged me in conversation before my mind could wander to far.

"Hey, so did you enjoy the party?" he asked, as I turned my attention to him. "By the way, we managed to get some wicked selfies. I sent a few through, but the best ones I kept for when I want to blackmail you or for your birthday!" he added, causing me to internal cringe. I'm pretty sure that Beau heard it, as his conversation with Lucy momentarily lapsed before continuing. Knowing that Logan had no clue about that, I quickly put a smile on my face.

"Yeah, I enjoyed it. Just a shame my parents asked me to pick them up. I was looking forward to having a dance with you guys" I replied, repeating the lie I had told Kendall, hoping that if it worked on him, it would work on Logan as well. I did hear Dak make some sort of scoffing noise at the end of the table as I spoke, but he quickly covered it up by coughing. It seemed only I and Camille noticed the real intentions of it, as she flashed me a sympathetic smile. "What about you, did you enjoy it?"

"Yeah, it was fun. After you left, I mostly stuck with Camille. We had a little dance, I played a few more drinking games"

"Yeah, don't play against him in pennies, his shot is insane" Camille interrupted causing me to chuckle.

"But that was it really." Logan finished, and I could tell by the way he talked he didn't enjoy it as much as he let on. I was about to say something when Jett began to speak.

"And while you guys had all the fun, I was lumbered with Kendall!" he joked with a small chuckle, causing Kendall to redden next to me.

"Hey, I was trying to be good! I didn't drink anything after that" Kendall shot back, causing Jett's grin to grow.

"Yeah, but dude, all you kept repeating was 'I want Dr Jamie'" Jett replied, and that caused the whole of Kendall's face to be consumed in a blush. Everyone on the table to burst into laughter, as I slung my arm over his shoulder and pulled him closer.

"What can I say, I got him Doritos _and_ mini bread sticks" I joked, causing Kendall to nudge my arm off his shoulder as he joined in with the laughter.

For a moment, I was comfortable with everyone again, but when I glanced over at Dak, and saw that he wasn't laughing with us, the wave of guilt crashed back over me.

* * *

Luckily, before anyone could notice how awkward everything was, the bell went causing everyone to get up for their lessons. I quickly glanced down at my timetable and let out a sigh of relief when I saw that I shared History with Lucy, but a part of me knew I was being premature. As the two of us started to walk to History, I could see the smile that sat on Lucy's face, and being the 'good' friend that I was, I knew I had to ask about it.

"Someone looks happy" I commented as I nudged her arm slightly. For probably the second time since I've known her, I saw Lucy gained a small blush on her cheeks.

"You know why" she replied, nudging me back.

"That good huh?" I joked, causing her to punch me on the arm. "I was kidding" I laughed, causing her to chuckle.

"He's been so sweet" she began, and I internally rolled my eyes. I really didn't want to hear this, but I knew that I had to keep the 'good' friend act and listen.

"So, when did it start?" I asked, her smile growing.

"That night we were in the music room. When I got home, I saw he'd sent a message saying how good I was and it kinda went from there. We just started talk about what we wanted to do in the future and stuff like that, and soon enough we were messaging almost every night, just talking about everything and anything. But he didn't properly ask me to be his girlfriend until Saturday night, said he wanted it to be special" she swooned, causing me to smile on the outside, while on the inside I rolled my eyes. "Thank you, James. If it weren't for you, I probably wouldn't have give Beau a chance, but he's such a nice guy!" she finished, as the two of us reached the class.

As we sat down, I was hit by that intense wall of guilt again. Lucy seemed so happy with Beau, and while that I was great for her, all I could think about was what this meant for me. This entire endeavour was a selfish one, just to save my own hide. Somehow, the thought of her and Dak together managed to work its way into my brain, and from that moment on, I couldn't stop thinking about what would have happened if I had interfered.

Maybe Dak would have been this happy, and I stopped that from happening, just because I was stupid enough not to log off of my emails.

Damn, I'm really starting to hate myself at the moment.

When the lesson ended, I thought I would be able to quick escape, but when Lucy called my name, I knew that wasn't possible.

"Hey, so I just wanted to ask you something? I was going to ask you earlier but you distracted me" she said with a small smile, and just from that facial expression, I knew this wasn't going to be good. "Is Dak pissed at me? I mean, I might just be making things up in my head but it was like he was avoiding me this morning. I mean, I said hi to him when I sat down, but other than a quick smile, I didn't get anything back. I just thought if anyone knew anything, it would be you" she finished, as my body began its inner turmoil again, with emotions being flipped and thrown everywhere. I tried my best to compose myself as I replied.

"I don't think so, I mean he hasn't said anything to me. I just think he's going through a rough time right now with the mock exams coming up this week, so maybe just give him a little bit of space. He might just be stressed and it may blow over in a few days" I responded, the guilt eating me up inside as I said every single word. Luckily, Lucy seemed to buy it, as she gave me a small smile.

"Oh ok, thanks for that, I was really worried" she began, as the bell went, signalling the next lesson was starting. "Well, I'll catch you later ok?" she continued, giving me a small wave as she walked off.

Once she was out of eye shot, I let out a huge sigh, feeling all the tension get released from my shoulders. I had a free next, so hopefully I could go the hour without having to bullshit to anyone or ruin their lives.

* * *

Knowing it was the best place to avoid people, I headed to the upper level of the library. The area was very rarely used, due to it's lack of 'group work facilities' as the school would put it. Essentially there was no table that could fit two or more people so it was very rare that you'd find anyone up here. I made my way to the back of the area, where I was hoping I couldn't be extra concealed and pulled out my maths textbook.

I was hoping this would be challenging enough to keep my brain occupied for the next hour. When I found the chapter that was going to come up in my mock exam, I untangled my headphones before I put them in, and blasted a Shawn Mendes song. Yes, I was that stressed that I willing to expose another secret of mine just to calm down. I was finally ready, and when I glanced down at the page to see it was a topic called differentiation, I knew that I would easily be distracted for the next hour.

Of course it was all going to plan for the first twenty minutes, but I knew my plan had failed when I saw a shadow loom over the table. Using the toggle on my headphones to silence my music, I steeled myself in preparation for the worst. When I looked up however, I saw that it wasn't the worst, but definitely not far off.

"What do you want now Beau?" I asked, as I pulled my headphones out of my ear. I suppose one good thing about it being Beau was that I wasn't worried about hurting his feelings.

"I just wanted to congratulate you!" he said, as he began to sit on the edge of my desk. "You upheld your end of the deal!" he continued, slapping me on the back like I was some sort of child.

"And let me guess, you're hear to delete the picture from your phone" I replied, but it was clear that I was being sarcastic, especially after what had happened at the party.

"Close, but no dice Jamie." He began, flashing that creepy smile. I ignored the fact that he'd merged two expressions together as he continued. "You see, what if this whole thing was a plan? What if you just asked Lucy to get with me, so I'd delete the emails? I just can't risk that buddy. So, how about I keep hold of the emails until say…Christmas. And if Lucy and I are still together then I'll delete them. It'll be like a Christmas present!" His voice was annoyingly chipper at the end of that sentence, considering the fact that I was currently fuming. I definitely should have seen this coming and the fact that I didn't just pissed me off even more. It was at that point, I felt like something snapped.

"Are you fucking joking with me right now?" I asked, slamming my pen down onto my desk as if to prove a point. "We had a fucking deal, and just like you said, I kept my end of the bargain! I don't give a shit if you and Lucy don't last, that wasn't the deal! The deal was that I got her and your pathetic ass together. Now, delete the fucking screenshots now!" I shouted back to him, hoping that someone didn't hear the whole thing.

"No can do Jamie. I guess you'll just have to wait" he replied, only infuriating me more.

"Wait? Until fucking when? What happens when you decide at fucking Christmas that you're still 'not sure.'"

"I promise you that at Christmas, I'll delete the screenshots."

"You fucking better, or I'll have to mention this little situation of ours to your brother. How would he feel about you after he knew about this?" I snapped back hoping that would discourage him slightly. I could see fear flash through his eyes for a moment, and I knew that I had won. It was quickly replaced with that creepy smile again, but I knew that I finally had something against him.

"See you around Jamie. You'll be doing that a lot since I got what I wanted" he replied, as he slapped me on the back a few more times before walking away. It was safe to say that my day had been completely ruined by this point and there was no chance of me salvaging it, not even if Beau tripped down the stairs and broke his neck.

At this point, not even that would fix the situation I was in.

* * *

At that point, the rest of the week turned into a blur especially with the added pressure of mock exams. My mind was constantly racing about how much I had fucked up and hurt the people I cared about the most, meaning that I couldn't even focus on the mock exams that were happening. The tests were at the back of my mind, and to some extent that was stressing me out even more because I knew that these were important in judging where we were at in terms of grades. The entire week, Beau seemed to mock me just with his presence at the table which didn't help my situation at all, especially when I could see how happy Lucy was with him, and due to that Dak continued to be pissed at me and didn't say a word all week. I think everyone else was starting to notice that something was up as well, as conversation on the table seemed to fall short each time or was generally now split into smaller groups instead of the table-wide conversations we used to share.

When Friday finally hit that week, I was so exhausted that I just didn't care. I went into school with a state of bed head, something that I had never done before in my life and I seemed to skate by in most of my classes, doing the bare minimum just so I could get through it. When the final bell rung, I didn't bother to say bye to anyone, but instead jumped straight into my car and drove home. I notice something strange however when I pulled onto my drive and that was that my dad's car was also parked up. While he would usually try to finish a little earlier on a Friday, he was never home before I was. I grabbed my bag from the passenger foot well, and made my way into the house, curious to see why my dad was home so early. When I walked into the house, I saw the two of them sat on the sofa, and they must have heard the door open as their heads seemed to swivel as soon as I entered the house.

"James, sweetie, why don't you come a seat" my mum said, giving me a small smile as she did so.

"Why, what's wrong?" I asked, instantly assuming the worst as I dropped my bag at the door and walked into the living room. I sat down on the edge of the two-seater, my nervous suddenly getting the best of me.

"Nothing's wrong" Mum began, in a tone that was trying to be soothing, but I knew a 'but' was coming. "But, your father and I are just a little worried. You seemed a little bit…off this week"

"You can talk to us James if something is bothering you." Dad chimed in, and while I knew they were just trying to help and be supportive, I just couldn't say anything. My words got stuck at the back of my throat as I tried to speak.

"I…um…it's" I began, as I tried to think of something that would get me out of this conversation. When I finally had the right thing to say, I just sighed, hoping to make it seem a bit more convincing. "I'm just a little stressed over my mock exams. I just couldn't seem to remember anything at the moment, and I'm just worried about them" I replied, looking down at the floor as I did so.

"Oh sweetie" my mum said, as she moved next to me and pulled me into a tight hug. "You don't need to put yourself under so much pressure." She said, as I nodded into her shoulder.

"Yeah buddy, they're only mock exams. They're just a chance for you to see where you need to improve." Dad added, as he moved onto the arm of the sofa next to me and started to rub my back. "And just think, now that they are over, you can just chill out all weekend"

"Thank you" I replied, a small smile settling on my face. Of course, the wall of guilt hit again, especially now that I was lying to my parents as well. When my parents finally let me go, I flashed them another small smile, thanking them for their support before running up to my room.

As soon as the door shut, the flood of tears came as I reviewed everything that had happened over the past week. I knew that I was just digging myself deeper and deeper but I just couldn't seem to stop.

Let's hope I can get out soon, otherwise I'm going to hit rock bottom.

* * *

 **So there we have it! Kendall and James had a small chat, and they are back on the same page again. Lucy is really happy with Beau, who has refused to delete the emails until Christmas, and James' Parents asked him what was up, for a short summary! I will say that this is now the end of the Halloween period, so next week we will move on!**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Guest, RainbowDiamonds, Winterschild11 and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter, and I am so happy to see that you are still loving the emails! You'll be glad to hear that the next chapter starts off with them, and I will say now that the one from Comit is true this time, but you'll have to wait to see what it is! You also seem to love Kendall over the last few chapters, and I have to admit, I also loved Kendall while writing these! Also, please let me know what you think of Beau now that the dick has broke his promise! I hated him as a character when writing this, but I think that's also what made him so fun to write! I also think that it is important to remember that James doesn't want this secret out there. I saw Winterschild11 say that James should tell his friends, but it's difficult for him, because he doesn't want anyone to know. It's the same with this chapter as well, because every though he now has something over Beau, he still knows that if the emails are leaked, it will ruin everything, so he has to play it smart.**

 **Oh, and I disagree with RainbowDiamonds completely! Coconut and Chocolate is a no go, I'm sorry! In the UK, we have a bar called Bounty, and when you get a box of Celebrations, they are always left, cause they are gross! #SorryNotSorry! 😜**

 **I will see you all on Monday for the next chapter of Class Vs Character, but until then**

 **TTFN 😃**


	10. Chapter 10: Tis Da Season

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Love, James! So, a massive thank you for the support on the last chapter, and let's crack on shall we?!**

* * *

To: comitinthestars  
From: lostinthemoment  
Subject: Tis da Season!

 _Comit_

 _You see, now Christmas is a holiday that I can get behind! I mean, for one, there is no one trying to scare you and two, all the movies that come out are just adorable (Total offense meant to your weird Halloween obsession.) I just love December so much, because as soon as the month starts, everyone is so Christmas orientated and the whole neighbourhood starts to decorate with amazing Christmas lights, and blow-up Santas and everything. Plus, I'm one of those weird humans that likes the cold! I just love it so much! Well, I don't like to be cold, but I love it when it's cold outside and you're inside wrapped up in a hoodie, or thick pyjamas with a cup of hot chocolate watching the snow fall!_

 _I must admit, another thing that adds to my excitement about this season is that I have no bad anecdotes, not a single one! Christmas has always been a happy season for me. Every year, my mum and I will bake cookies, normally triple chocolate chip, and we would make a day of it. We would go out to the store in the morning and buy all of the ingredient we need, and I always make sure to get more chocolate than we actually need. I'm pretty sure she knows by now, but she never stops me! Then when we get back home, we instantly get changed into our pyjamas and just don't leave the house for the rest of the day. We spend most of the day in the kitchen, listening to the same Christmas songs as the year before and we just sing and dance along as we bake. Of course, we share the left over cookie dough in the bowl while we wait for the cookies to cook, and we even have fun while washing up!_

 _Once the cookies are baked, the two of us go and sit in the living room with a small plate of them and we just turn on Christmas 24 and just binge watch Christmas movies for the rest of the day! When my dad gets home, he joins us and we all sit there together watching these cheesy movies and eating cookies! Boy, I love Christmas!_

 _How do you feel about Christmas Comit, and please please don't tell me that you are some sort of humbug! You may be able to get over the fact that I don't like Halloween, but not liking Christmas is a no go zone!_

 _Lost_

To: lostinthemoment  
From: comitinthestars  
Subject: Re: Tis da Season!

 _Lost,_

 _Fear not, as much like yourself I love the Christmas season and everything that comes with it, although for me it is on par with Halloween. Our only real tradition for Christmas is that the tree is always decorated on the 1_ _st_ _December as a Family and we also get a Chinese on Christmas Eve, but other than that, not much really happens. And I have to say that some of those Christmas movies are so bad, so I applaud you for binge watching them._

 _Consider this a very special Christmas because it is time for me to share one of my anecdotes and boy is it a good one. So, when I was about 12, I was playing football at a local club and I remember the moment so clearly. The coach at the time had us passing the football to one another, so when my partner passed the ball to me, I obviously went to stop it. However, I seemed to misjudge this task and when I placed my foot down on top of the ball, I slipped and fell straight into the ground. I knew at the time that I had done something, but I wasn't in that much pain, so I just assumed that I had sprained my ankle. The coach had saw the fall and come over to help me get back up but when I stood back up, I felt quite a sharp pain. The coach let me sit out for a while and even handed me his jacket to keep me warm. He'd told me that he had called someone to come and help me get to the small care centre in the building_

 _Now, I was sat on the grass and I certainly couldn't walk, so you can imagine how surprised I was when the worker came out without a wheelchair. When he finally made his way over to us, my coach explained what had happened, and the worker decided to try and help by carrying me back into the massive complex! Lost, I have never been more embarrassed in my life. It was a literal Baywatch carry and I felt so humiliated. But that wasn't the worst of it! So, when we finally reached the door at the back of the complex, he decided that he probably shouldn't carry me through it, and instead got me to hop down one of the hallways! When we finally reached the care centre, the people there did the normal check and phoned my mum saying that I should probably go to hospital._

 _To cut a long story short, when we reached the hospital, I was first seen by a nurse. He did the whole press around my ankle thing to see where the pain was, and after that he concluded that I had also just sprained my ankle, but he wanted to get an x-ray anyway. So, I went, fainted while waiting for the x-ray and when it was finally done, it was revealed that I had broken both my Tibia and Fibula. Yep, I broke both bones in my right leg… so, with it being Christmas, I decided to go for a bright green cast! Yay, holiday season!_

 _I hope this makes up for the lack of stories as it is certainly one of my better ones!_

 _Comit_

To: comitinthestars  
From: lostinthemoment  
Subject: Re: Tis da Season!

 _Comit,_

 _I think that was one of the best things I have ever read. And a bright green cast? Damn, way to get into the spirit of Christmas, I love it! I've been very lucky, and never actually broken a bone before but I can imagine how annoying it must be to have a limb out of service!_

 _I have to admit, I was slightly shocked to hear that you think that Christmas is on par with Halloween, but when I remember you were a psychopath, it made sense again :P And, how dare you insult the Christmas movies, on Christmas 24! They are golden, true works of art! But, I do know what you mean, and it seems that all of them are rom-coms, which can get tiring pretty quickly. I think it's more about spending time with my mum than it actually is about watching the movies, as we always tend to talk over them anyway. Maybe one year, you could join us with this tradition?_

 _Lost._

* * *

While I managed to keep up my chipper persona over email, it was safe to say that in real life, I wasn't so upbeat. Sure, my mood had improved since Halloween, and the atmosphere on the table had definitely returned to normal but Dak still wasn't talking to me at all. Camille kept promising me that he would eventually get over it, but since almost two months had passed I wasn't holding out much hope. I suppose the 'positive' of this whole situation was that Lucy and Beau were still together meaning I was one step closer to having those emails deleted. Once they were gone, I was wondering what I should do. I really wanted to get back Dak's friendship and once Beau could no longer blackmail me, I was planning to tell Lucy about his previous relationship. Hopefully she could have the common sense to break up with him, and I could try to convince her to get with Dak after the Christmas break.

I was also planning on telling Dak about the blackmailing thing to see if he could forgive me. The only problem with that was that I still wasn't ready to come out, so I would need to lie to him again but at least I could have my best friend back. Anyway, we had finally reached the last day of term and I knew that I just needed to get through today before I wouldn't have to see anyone for a couple of weeks. At least that way, there was less chance for everything to get horrifically wrong. As usual, I walked into the cafeteria to see that everyone was gathered around the table chatting. Camille was the first person to see me approach and she gave me a wave.

"Hey, James! We were just discussing what we were doing over Christmas" she said, as I took the seat next to her. "So far, the best we've got is that Jett is headed up to some abandon Ski lodge in the mountains"

"Hey, it's not abandoned! It just doesn't have any Wi-Fi" Jett replied, causing Camille to let out a snort.

"Abandoned" she repeated, causing everyone else to chuckle. "What about you, you got anything planned?" she asked, causing me to shake my head.

"Nope, I'm going to have the same Christmas as I do every year" I replied, causing her to shake her head.

"And what does that entail?" Kendall asked, causing me to shrug.

"Staying at home with my family. Usually, we have my whole family come round for a day, but that's really it. It's a lot of lounging about in my pyjamas" I replied, causing everyone to mummer in agreement.

"That's all anyone's got planned" Logan agreed, before conversation settled down again into idle chatter. Every now and again, I would look over at Dak in the hope that he would be alright with me. When he would glance back over at me, I would flash him a small smile, but not once had he reciprocated it.

The day seemed to progress slowly as expected with it the last day of school, so during one of my frees, I decided just to chill out. The school didn't know this, but some of the students had managed to gain the 'Guest Wi-Fi' password, meaning that nothing was blocked. Of course, the password spread like wildfire, yet had somehow avoided the ears of the teachers meaning that most of the school could now access whatever they wanted without wasting their 4G. Since I had nothing better to do, I decided to load up Netflix and start streaming one of the shows I was watching, hoping that would rush the day along.

I nestled myself into the corner of the library, getting all comfortable before I proceeded to ignore everyone and watch my show. The peace and quiet probably lasted about 45 minutes, before I felt a shadow cast over me, and much like last time I steeled myself for the worst. I paused the show, readying myself for an insult, but when I looked up I was greeted with a Latino instead of the Devil.

"Oh, hey Carlos!" I said, as I pulled my earphones out and gestured to the seat opposite me, one he was quick to take.

"Hey, what you watching?" he asked, as he placed his bag down on the ground.

"Oh, just Supernatural"

"I don't think I've ever seen that, I might check it out. From what I saw, it looked interesting" he replied, referring to the scene where a load of Demons were being exorcised from inside a prison. "Anyway, I just wanted to give you this" he continued as reached into his bag and pulled out a small card.

"Thanks dude, I feel bad that I haven't got you one" I replied, as he passed the card over to me.

"Don't worry about it. I didn't do it expecting anything in return" he replied, blushing slightly as he said it. The atmosphere on the table became awkward for a second, but I was quick to try and dissipate it.

"So, any plans for Christmas?" I asked, causing him to shake his head.

"Not really, it's just gonna be a chill few weeks. We'll probably get a take away or something which is quite rare of us, with mum being a dietitian but that's it really. What about you?" he responded, causing my head to flick back to Comit's emails. Again, all the evidence that pointed to Carlos being Comit flooded back as as much as I really wanted to say something, I knew I just wasn't ready for that.

"Yeah, not much either. Just got my family coming round for a day, but that's it really" I replied, giving him a small smile as I did so. The awkwardness settled over the table again, almost like we both were thinking the same question, but no one wanted to ask it. This time, it was Carlos who broke the tension.

"Well, I'll leave you to your TV show. Merry Christmas James" he said, as he pulled himself from the desk.

"Yeah, merry Christmas Carlos" I replied, causing him to flash me another small smile before he walked away. I finally let out the breath I didn't know I was holding, as relief washed over me.

I couldn't get over how awkward that conversation between the two of us was, and while I didn't fully know why, I had a small suspicion.

* * *

As the bell went, signalling the day was over, I could see the joy that spread across everyone's face. _'Fucking finally'_ I thought to myself as I pulled my bag off of the floor, and made my way out of my lesson, towards the car park. Everyone was filtering out of the school, but my eyes only seemed to focus on one person. Knowing this was probably my last chance to talk to him before we broke up for Christmas, I quickly made my way through everyone.

"Dak, wait up!" I called out, hoping that he could listen and actually wait for me. Instead, I just saw how he sped up, so I knew he had heard me. He was first to pass out of the main school door, causing me to speed up as well, hoping to catch him. As soon as I was out of the door, I broke into a small sprint, seeing he was almost to his car. "Dak, seriously, wait up!" I shouted, and this time he seemed to stop. When he turned to me, his face was like stone, showing no emotion what so ever.

"What do you want James?" he asked, his word venomous.

"Look, I'm sorry ok! I'm sorry" I replied, looking down to the ground as I spoke.

"Sorry? Really, we haven't spoken in two months and you still won't explain yourself. At this point, I don't even care that Lucy got with Beau, I'm still pissed at you because you lied to me and won't tell me why!" he spat back, venom still heavy in his voice.

"I know, but I promise you that I will explain everything after the Christmas break. Please, you have to trust me on this. I will tell you everything!" Another lie, but one I felt necessarily. He still wasn't buying it however as he just rolled his eyes at me.

"And why should I trust you? Just so you can lie to me again! You were my best friend James, and we told each other everything. Can you imagine how it felt when you lied to me and then wouldn't tell me why! I don't know if I can trust you after that"

"I promise Dak, I will tell you the truth! You just have to give me until after Christmas" He raised his eyebrow at me, and I knew he was questioning why he had to wait until then. "I really can't explain right now, but I swear to you that after Christmas, I will tell you whatever you want. I promise you that" I continued, and I was practically begging to him at this point. His facial expression was still stone, his eyes locked onto mine as he judged what I was saying, but I knew he was considering it, seeing how his shoulder slumped slightly.

"Fine, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. But the first day back, I want an explanation for everything ok. And don't even think about lying to me again" he stated, as I just nodded my head along to everything he said.

"I promise, I'll tell you everything" I replied, causing him to nod quickly before getting back into his truck. As I walked away, I couldn't help the smile that grew on my face. After all this time, I finally felt like I had done something right again and was on the path to getting my best friend back. Well, that was if he felt for me after I told him what had happened. He could also go the other way completely and hate me even more.

 _'Happy thoughts James, happy thoughts'_

* * *

When I got home that night, I was still in a good mood, something that even my mum commented on. I just responded saying that I was happy to finally have a break and she just chuckleed, saying how well deserved it was. Of course, she didn't know the half of it. When I got upstairs, I was quick to swap into my pyjamas and snuggle up into bed, ready to spend the rest of the evening watching Supernatural on my TV. Of course, just when I thought everything was getting better, a text from Beau came through on my phone. I groaned as I picked up the mobile device and clicked on the message.

 _I bring good tiding Jamie! Only a week to go and then the screenshots will be gone! We will both finally have what we want! Isn't that great? It was a pleasure to do business with you, and I hope that we can do it again in the future!_

That fucking prick, rubbing it in my face at the end of such a good day. I was trying so hard not to let this ruin the mood, so I quickly typed back a short message.

 _If by business, you mean blackmail then it certainly wasn't a pleasure. Please go fuck yourself Beau. And I hope one day Lucy sees what you are truly like. I wouldn't wish you on my worst enemy, so that gives you some idea of how I feel about setting you up with a friend._

The message was perfect, and that smile returned to my face as soon as I had sent it. I didn't care what Beau thought of me, and as long as those screenshots went, then that's all that matters. When I saw that nothing else was being sent through, I placed my phone on my bedside table before loading up Netflix and continuing where I left off.

The rest of the night I felt peaceful, knowing that this horrible situation was finally coming to an end and that I finally had a chance at getting my best friend back. I couldn't help but smile at the thought.

* * *

The next morning, I was awoken by my phone vibrating on the bedside table, as my ring tone radiated through the room. I groaned, not even raising my head off of the pillow as I reached around to grab it. When it was finally in my hands, I answered the call, and put it on loudspeaker.

"Hello" I mumbled into the pillow, but that quickly changed when I heard how frantic the voice was coming through the phone.

"James, you need to check the Tumblr page now" Camille voice sounded throughout my room and instantly I got this bad feeling in my gut. "James" she repeated as I scrambled off of my bed and over to my desk, grabbing my phone as I did so.

I was quick to load the page, and when I did, my face paled instantly.

* * *

 **So there we go! Everything was looking up slightly, with James gaining some headway with Dak, as well as just having a generally good day at school, but as you can probably tell, that's all about to change! I'm guessing that you all know what is coming up next, but what I want to know is why you think it has happened! And yes, the anecdote from Comit is true once again, I did break my leg my playing football. Also, I don't know if I've said this, but when I say football, I mean English football. But yeah, I slipped off of the ball, and landed on my leg on a funny angle. The baywatch carry is also true, and I'm guessing you can all imagine how embarrassing it would be.**

 **I want to say a massive Thank you to Guest, Winterschild11, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter, and I'm glad to see that you all liked it, and you all seemed to be rooting for Kames which was interesting. I'm interested to see how you feel about Dak after this chapter as well, especially since it has been two months. Do you think it's justified for him to still be pissed. I tried to give a reason for it when I was writing, but I'm interested to hear what you think. And of course, Beau is still a dick. Some things just never change 😜 I'm also glad to see that you are still loving James' family dynamic, as that is really important in this story!**

 **Right, so the next chapter of this will be uploaded next Friday instead of next Thursday, since I am going on Holiday tomorrow for a week. Depending on some things that I'm trying out, you will either get the next Class Vs Character chapter later today, or it will be uploaded like normal on Monday. The basic gist is that I'm going to try and upload this off of my Ipad from the website, since the app messes the structure up, and if that works, then CVC will be out on Monday. If it doesn't then CVC will be out later.**

 **That was just a massive ramble, but essentially CVC may be out later, or it maybe out on Monday, but I don't know which until I try to upload this. Anyway, I will see you at some point for the next chapter of Class Vs Character. Until then**

 **TTFN 😃**

 _Damn, I really need to work on explaining things 😂😂_


	11. Chapter 11: Rock Bottom

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Love, James! So, I have just got back from my holiday, and I'm ready to get this up!**

* * *

I stared at the screen, reading the passage over and over again. "James, I'm so sorry" Camille said, but that didn't help one bit. "I've already reported it"

"But that doesn't matter! People have already seen it!" I yelled back, as I clicked on each of the images. "I have to go"

"No, James wait, please just talk to me"

"I…I…bye" I replied, my hand shaking as I clicked the disconnect button. The passage was haunting me, and all I could do was read it over and over again.

 _Students of the Palmwood, I am writing this message to inform you all that James Diamond is gay, and hereby welcome to anal butt sex and the like. Please contact him directly for the details. Be aware however, that he is in a relationship with someone under the Alias 'Comit' so he may need some persuading before he will participate. Below is all the proof you need_

 _Sincerely Anonymous_

And much like it said, below that were all the emails Comit and I had sent to each other prior to Beau blackmailing me. I couldn't help but look at the emails over and over again. My phone was pinging like mad next to me, as Camille tried to get in contact with me, but I just ignored them all. I couldn't focus on that right now. Apparently that hole I was digging just hit rock bottom, and now there was no way for me to escape it. My hands were shaking as I tried to think of the first thing I should do, but there was only one thing that came to mind.

To: comitinthestars  
From: lostinthemoment  
Subject: I'm So Sorry

 _Comit, by now you are probably aware that something has gone majorly wrong and I just want you to know that I never intended for this to happen! I did everything I could to try and protect you from this, but apparently that wasn't enough. I'm so sorry Comit, please get back to me soon. I don't want to lose you as well!_

To: lostinthemoment  
From: comitinthestars  
Subject: Re: I'm So Sorry

 _I suppose it's a bit redundant to refer to you as Lost, since I now know who you are. James Diamond, I had to admit, this has come as a massive surprise to me. James, I am truly sorry for everything that has happened. No one deserves to be outed in such a way, especially for everyone to see so easily. Just know that I had reported the post, so hopefully it will be taken down soon._

 _And I appreciate the fact that you tried to protect me from this, even though I'm not quite sure I know what you mean by that. Did you know that there was a possibility for these emails to get out?_

 _With that being said, I think it's best for us to stop emailing each other. While I am sorry that this has happened to you, we agreed at the beginning of this that it would stay anonymous and I really don't need my secret to come out as well. I am so sorry James, but I just can't risk it. I do want to you know that I do care about you however and I truly hope that things improve in the future._

To: comitinthestars  
From: lostinthemoment  
Subject: Re: I'm So Sorry

 _Please Comit, please don't leave me now! I did know about the possibility that the emails could get out, but I promise you that I did everything to protect you! I really care about you as well, and I wanted to make sure that you were protected if this did happen. I suppose it worked, as I don't know who you are, and I suppose I never will now._

 _Please don't leave me. If you go, I will have no one left. I love you._

 _Love, James_

To: lostinthemoment  
From: comitinthestars  
Subject: Re: I'm So Sorry

 _I love you too James, but the risk is too high. I'm sorry._

* * *

It was safe to say that at this point, I didn't think things could get any worse. Comit was gone. He'd left me, just like I knew he would, and I even admitted to him that I loved him.

God it was true, I loved him so much and now I'll never get to talk to him again. I still have no clue who he is in real life, but my mind kept flicking between Kendall and Carlos. Is Comit one of those two? Not that it would matter. If I asked them at this point, they would just deny it straight away. Everything I did, everyone who I angered just to keep my secret safe and it was all in vain. My secret got out anyway, and Comit's gone.

This day just couldn't get any worse.

"Oh, hi Lucy" I heard from downstairs, and instantly my heart started to race.

"Hi, Mrs Diamond, is James in?"

"Yeah, he's in his room. You can just go right up if you want" I heard, followed by the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. At this point, I just didn't care, and I couldn't even be bothered to look up when I heard my door open. That soon ended however when I felt Lucy push on the side of my chair, causing me to swivel round. She sat herself on the edge of the bed, and I just knew this wasn't going to be good, based on her facial expression. The two of us just looked at each other, her staring me in the eyes with anger clouded her vision, and me staring back as my eyes filled with tears. That didn't seem to stop her onslaught however.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" she asked, and I could tell that she was forcing a calm tone. Hoping I could play innocent, I responded with "what do you mean?" but that definitely didn't go down well. "Don't play dumb with me James! Fucking explain to me know why you decided to pawn me off onto Beau! You see James, I was sat round Beau's house last night, when his phone pinged right. So, because I'm a naturally curious person, I picked up the phone to see text message from you, saying about how you 'set me up' with him. I just couldn't believe it, so obviously I try to load up the messages to see what they are about. And it was to my surprise that I find months' worth of messages talking about how you are going to set the two of us up! So fucking explain that to me James!"

"I…I…he was blackmailing me and I…"

"You what, you decided to treat me like a play piece!"

"No, I…I didn't mean to…"

"I don't care what you meant to do James! You used me like a piece of bait so that you could save your own skin. Not once did you think about me in all of this!"

"It's not my fault!" I finally exploded, standing up from my chair as it rolled back against the desk. That seemed to shut Lucy up for a second! "If you read the messages, you'd also see how he was blackmailing me into doing whatever he wanted! I didn't have a choice Lucy, he was going to out me and I wasn't ready for that! And then there was Comit! I couldn't risk it Lucy"

"So, what, you decided that your secret was more important than what happens in my life!" She snapped back, and that shut me up in return. "I really thought that you were being nice to me James. When I asked you to help me with the music for the play, it's because I thought that you were one of my best friends. But now I find out it's just because you wanted to protect yourself!"

"You know what, think whatever the fuck you want, I just don't care anymore!" I replied, as I just sunk back into my seat. At this point, I truly just didn't care. Everything was just so fucked up anyway. "Yes, I set you up with Beau to save myself, but I was planning to let you know everything after he deleted the screenshots. I really didn't want to do this to you Lucy, but the thing is with blackmail is that you don't have a choice. And just so you know, it was all for nothing anyway. The emails have been leaked and Comit will never speak to me again. So yes, I put myself before everyone else to try and protect the person that I love, and because of that one mistake I had lost everyone." By this point I was crying and I just didn't care. "So, yell at me all you want because it's going to be nothing compared to what I've done to myself over the last few months"

When I finally looked back up at her, I could see that she was still fuming with anger, but I think I had made my point relatively clear. "You were the one that caused all this James, so don't try to use pity to get your way out of it, it won't work" she replied, shaking her head as she did so. With nothing left to say, she walked out of my room, leaving me with nothing but the guilt and sorrow that had long since accompanied me.

* * *

Suffice to say that when Christmas Day hit, I wasn't much better. I had tried to hide most of what had happened from my parents, but it was difficult when my Mum kept asking about them all. So, when I walked downstairs on Christmas morning, I was not in the best head space. Normally, Dak, Camille and I would have already sent messages to each other, but considering that I hadn't got one from them, I knew that they were pissed at me. Dak would have probably told Camille the truth by now, especially after he realised what I was 'going to tell him' after the Christmas break. It definitely didn't help when my mum asked about it that morning.

"Hey honey, merry Christmas" my mum said from the sofa as I walked in. Like usual, my mum and dad were waiting for me.

"Yeah, merry Christmas buddy"

"Merry Christmas" I replied, giving them a small smile as I sat down on the sofa, near a pile of presents with my name of them. That was something that my parents have always done, despite the fact that I'm an only child.

"So ahead buddy" Dad said, seeing how I was eyeing my presents already. That seemed to bring a smile to my face, opening presents on Christmas morning always did. Like usual, I went for the largest one first, causing my parents to chuckle. As I tore into the wrapping paper, I could see how the two of them were looking at me. I could see just from their eyes how much they loved me and due to it, I got an overwhelming surge of confidence. When I finally got into the gift, I saw that it was some new headphones causing my smile to grow. "Thanks guys "I replied, showing them the box, even though they knew what it was.

"We knew how much you wanted a new pair so" mum replied, with a shrug like it was no big deal. Of course, it was a big deal and she knew it, so I just chuckled. As I continued to open my presents, that surge of confidence seemed to grow and every time I looked over at the two of them cuddle on the sofa, I could see how much they loved me. There was a small part of me that really didn't want to jeopardise that by coming out, but I knew it was better for me to tell them now, rather than have them find out from someone else in January. As I opened my final gift, I knew that but more importantly I wanted to come out to them. Taking a deep breath, I got their attention.

"So, I…um…I" I began, trying to build up the courage to actually say it.

"What is it sweetie?" my mum said, as she gave me a small shy smile.

"I wanted to um tell you guys um something" I continued, and I just saw them nodding along. "So…I'm…err…." Taking one final deep breath, I just went for it. "I'm…um…gay" I said out loud, and I have to admit I shocked myself as much as I shocked them. Yet for some reason, after I had said it once, I found it so much easier to say it again. "I'm gay" I said again, this time a lot louder and clearer. My eyes were focused on the floor the entire time, but when I looked up at them, I was greeted with the sight of them both crying.

"Oh honey" my mum said, as she shot up from her sofa and made her way over to me. "I'm so proud of you. Thank you for telling us" she continued as she wrapped her arms around me and pulled me in close. I rested my head on her shoulder as we hugged, and I had perfect sight of my dad, who was still sat on the sofa, a tear rolling down his face as he started at me.

"Gay huh?" he asked, causing me to nod into my mum shoulder. "That's um that's…big" was all he said, and that caused me to shift my eyes away from him as tears started to well up in my eyes. "I'm so proud of you buddy" I heard, as he wrapped his arms around both my mum and I and began to ruffle my hair. "That must have taken some guts to tell us, but I'm so proud of you" he continued as I put my arms around his back, so it was just one massive family hug.

It felt like a massive weight had been lifted off of my shoulder and I suddenly got an overwhelming feeling of happiness. I suppose my biggest fear was that my parents wouldn't accept me but now I couldn't help but feel that that fear was unjustified. When they finally pulled out, and settled back onto the sofa, my dad began to speak began. "Well, I certainly wasn't what I was expecting from today" he said, causing me to chuckle slightly.

"Trust me, I wasn't expecting it either" I replied through my laughter.

"When did you know" my mum asked, causing me to shrug.

"Probably when I was about 13ish. I just sort of knew, I don't know how to describe it." I continued, causing the two of them to nod.

"Well, I guess that's our present then?" my dad continued to joke, causing me to nod as we chuckled.

"Yeah, that's it. I'll see you this time next year" I joked back, those two chuckling further as I pretended to get up from my seat.

"Seriously though James, we are so proud of you. It must have been difficult to tell us, and we're just so happy you felt comfortable enough to tell us" my mum said, as she wiped a stray tear from her eye.

"I love you guys" I said, moving over once more for another hug.

"I love you too" they both said in synchrony as they both embraced the hug.

For the rest of the day, everything settled back into its usual routine, but I couldn't help the smile on my face. I could finally just be me, and I didn't need to filter myself around my parents or pretend to be someone I'm not. I knew that I should probably expect some difficulty for a little while as this will be a big change for my parents as much as it is for me, but now I was safe in the knowledge that they still loved me.

* * *

New Years was probably when I came back down to reality. I seemed to do pretty well at distracting myself for the majority of the holiday, and my parents were super helpful in that, but when New Year's hit, the guilt and sorrow returned pretty heavily. During the day, I was fine as I just pottered around the house helping my mum with some chores, but it was the evening that hurt the most. When we were sat watching the count down as a family, I decided to turn on my Snapchat, ready to send out a post saying 'Happy New Years' but a story on the side caught my eye. Like usual, I decided to load it up, so I clicked on it, to see it was from Dak.

Everyone from the group looked to be around his house celebrating the New Years together, and that for me was confirmation enough that they didn't seem bothered with me anymore. I had clearly hurt him and Camille enough that it had had an impact on the whole group and to be perfectly honest, I couldn't blame then at all for that. Watching the story caused a stray tear to roll down my cheek, something that my mum picked up on.

"You ok honey?" she asked, looking down at my phone to see what had caused the tear. I just nodded, as I locked the device, but I think she had seen enough to know what I was crying over. "Oh sweetie" she said as she moved over to me and pulled me into a hug. "They're celebrating it without you?" she asked, causing me to nod as I did so. Another tear rolled down my cheek as she hugged me tighter, and I could hear that she was welling up herself. "Well, you don't need them. You've got us for tonight" she continued, trying to make light of the situation.

"I love you guys" I replied, causing her to hug me tighter.

"We love you too" she replied, as she pulled out of the hug slightly to give me a kiss on the forehead. For the rest of the night, we tried to keep the atmosphere jovial, but it was difficult for us all knowing that they were all celebrating without me. We watched the New Year in, but after that I excused myself, saying that I was tired. It was an obvious lie, and even they knew that but didn't question it, knowing that I needed some space. When I got into bed, a few stray tears continued to roll down my face, but I tried not to let it get to it.

 _'Tomorrow is a new day'_ I thought to myself as I tried to get to sleep. It must have been about 10 minutes later when I heard a soft knock on my door.

"Yeah?" I asked, causing my dad to walk in with a small smile on his face.

"Hey buddy" he said, as he sat down on the edge of the bed. "I'm sorry about all your friends" he continued, causing me to nod as a few stray tears fell. "Do they know your gay?" he asked, causing me to nod again. "And do you think that is that why they left you out tonight?" he continued, but this time I shook my head. "Do you know why?" I nodded again. "Want to tell me?" he asked, causing me to break down into tear completely. He was quick to move to my side and help comfort me as I began to speak.

"I messed up big time and did some stuff that hurt them" I replied, more tears falling.

"What did you do?" he asked, his voice soft as he rubbed my back in support. I was reluctant to tell him about what had happened, but I knew that he deserved to know at this point.

"The wrong person found out about me being gay, and he blackmailed me. He asked me to help him get with someone, and in the process, I had to lie to everyone and keep two of my friends apart. If I didn't help, he said he would out me, and he did" I replied, knowing that was probably the best thing to tell him without getting to in detail. For a moment, he stayed silent as he tried to process the information and I was concerned about his answer. It wasn't until he flashed me a small smile that I finally relaxed slightly.

"That's a difficult one James. I mean, anyone would have done what you did in that situation, and I can't blame you for trying to help yourself." He began, causing me to nod. At least he wasn't pissed at me. "But you do need to make things right with your friends. It definitely wasn't a nice thing to do, but I can see why you did it"

"I know, and I was going to try and fix it" I replied, causing him to nod as he gave me another smile.

"Good, all you can do now is try your best. Night buddy" he said, ruffling my hair as he would often do. That brought a smile to my face, as I responded.

"Night dad" I replied, as he flashed me one last smile before he left the room.

* * *

 **So there we had it, James is out, and everyone now knows! Comit has left out of fear of being outed himself, Lucy then shouted at James like there was no tomorrow, he then had to tell his parents, in which they obviously accepted him and then everyone celebrated the New Years without him, so what do you all think to that?**

 **A massive thank you to Winterschild11, Guest, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter, and what you think about the reason James was outed? A lot of you thought it was because Beau got pissed off, but instead it was because Lucy found the messages and broke up with him, so I thought that was a nice twist. Let me know what you think about this chapter, especially with the news of the New Year's party at the end, and I will quickly say now that the next chapter is going to be the first day back at school!**

 **I will see you guys on Monday for the next chapter of Class Vs Character, which is back to Kendall, but until then,**

 **TTFN 😃**


	12. Chapter 12: Defending Honour

**So, I'm back with another chapter, mostly because of the reviews that RainbowDiamonds and Guest have already left, so here we go!**

* * *

A small part of me was hoping that today wouldn't come but I knew that it inevitably would. It was the first day back at school after the Christmas break, and I knew it was going to be an interesting one, consider that my secret was out there, none of my friends were talking to me, and Comit had also stopped emailing me. I was going to be completely alone, and I couldn't help but think back to the email I had sent Comit a few months ago now.

Gossip was the currency in the school and I can imagine there was going to be loads of it now, especially aimed directly at me. And just like I said, everyone would be passing around the gossip, trying not to think about how it had ruined my life.

I suppose Karma really is a bitch.

Like usual, I dragged myself out of bed and headed for the shower, mentally preparing myself for the day I was going to face, not that it was going to be any help as I knew that as soon as I got into that situation my defences would crumbled. About an hour later, I was dressed but definitely not ready for the school day and a small part of me was hoping I could fain an illness and get out of it. But even then, that would only last so long, and I could still have to go back eventually.

As I walked downstairs to get myself a cup of coffee and some breakfast, I saw my mum sat at the breakfast bar, scrolling through her phone. She didn't seem to miss me walk in, even though her eyes never left the device.

"Morning sweetie" she said, as she placed her phone down, and gave me small smile.

"Morning aren't you supposed to be at work?" I responded, knowing that this was also the first day back for her and that she would want to be there early.

"I wanted to see you off" she replied, as I poured myself a cup. I knew exactly where this conversation was going, and the weird part was that I really wanted it as well. "So, you Dad told me that everyone at school knows" she continued, causing me to nod before taking a sip of the coffee. "It's going to be difficult James, I know what high school is like and I know that everyone will be talking about it" Not exactly where I wanted this conversation to go. "But, what you've got to remember James is that you shouldn't be ashamed of who you are at all. Go into that school today, and just own it. You can finally just be yourself James, and you don't need to worry about trying to hide a part of you anymore. I need you to remember that James, you are not any different than you were before and if they can't see that, then it's their problem and not yours. You can finally relax now James. You can finally be yourself" she finished, before moving over and giving me hug.

"Thanks mum" I replied into her shoulder as I hugged her back. I took a quick glance at the clock and saw that I needed to get going. With one last squeeze of the hug, I took a deep breath. "I'll see you later. Love you" I added, kissing her a kiss on the cheek, before I pulled out of the hug, and grabbed my back pack. The talk from my mum definitely helped my mood, but I knew I still wasn't ready for this.

Then again, there is no time like the present.

* * *

As I pulled into the car park at the school, it was safe to say that my nerves were raging. The few people I've seen so far had glanced at me, and just from their facial expressions, I knew exactly what they were thinking. "It's ok James. You're just you. Nothing has changed" I said out loud hoping to give myself a pep talk. I glanced down at the clock, to see that I only had about 10 minutes until school actually started. Taking another deep breath, I grabbed my rucksack from the passenger seat and finally got out of the car.

It was either the fresh air, or the looks I got from some of my fellow students, but I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand us as I began to walk closer to the school doors. It was safe to say that every student was staring at me as I did so, but I tried to hold my head high and not think about all the whispering that had gone on since I had walked through the doors. I headed to my locker, knowing that I needed to get some stuff, and I couldn't help but overhear the conversations going on next to me.

"Did you hear. He's gay. There was a whole post about it on Tumblr"

"Oh yeah, just before the Christmas Break. I forgot about that. Weren't all his emails posted as well?" "

Yeah, him and someone called Comit. Guess there's another closeted gay kid in the school somewhere. He's probably too scared to come out" That last sentence caused me to snap for some reason. They could say whatever the hell they wanted about me, but once they started to talk about Comit, that flared my anger. I slammed my locker shut, before turning to the two girls.

"Don't you dare talk about Comit like that!" I began, as they gained the look of a deer being caught in headlights. "He's got a whole lot more courage than do you, just by talking to me about everything and admitting it to someone. You can't know what it's like to be in that situation, so don't you dare insult him" Not even bothering to hear their response, I walked towards my first lesson.

Of course, my actions caused the muttering to start all over again as everyone began to talk about what had happened. Trying to remain strong, I made my way to History hoping that the content of the lesson would distract me from that mindless chatter that was going around the school. When I reached my lesson, the first thing I noticed was how Lucy was sat in a different seat. She must have felt me staring, as she looked up at me causing our eyes to meet. Her face was stone- kind of appropriate for her last name- showing no emotion whatsoever but I could still see the anger that was circling in her eyes. My facial expression turned sorrowful as I tried to convey how sorry I was but instead she just turned away and refused to look at me once more.

With a sigh, I made my way over to my seat, hoping that today could end already. The whole lesson felt like it lasted about 10 years, and I could feel everyone's eyes on me as the lesson progressed. The addition of whispering from behind didn't help the anxiety I was feeling, and while I couldn't hear what they were saying, I knew it was about me, making it difficult to focus on any work set from the teacher. What didn't help either was the fact that my eyes kept landing on Lucy, who continued to ignore me. I mean, I was sat behind her, so while the possibility existed that she didn't know I was looking at her, that was improbable due to the simple fact that I saw her glance over her shoulder a few times, enough to see that it was me staring.

When the lesson finally ended, everyone shot up from their seats ready to head to break. I was quick to pack my bag, and made my way outside of the classroom, but instead of heading straight to my next lesson, I decided to wait outside the classroom, hoping to catch Lucy in a conversation. Everyone was glancing at me as they left the class or walked past in the corridor, but I tried to ignore that, focusing on my one goal. It must have been a couple minutes later when Lucy finally left the classroom, and as soon as she saw me, she let out a large groan while walking straight past.

"Lucy, wait, please" I said, as I began to walk after her, hoping that she would give me another chance. Instead she remained headstrong as she ignored me. "Look, I'm sorry ok. I'm sorry about what I did, I really didn't want to do it, but you have to understand that he was blackmailing me!" I continued, and that seemed to gain her attention, considering how fast she turned on her heels. This time, her face was screaming with anger, with her eyebrows drawn together and her mouth straight.

"I need to understand?! What I understand is that you treated me like I was nothing, like I was just something you could use to get what you wanted!" she snapped back, but luckily enough no one else in the corridor seemed to care.

"I'm so sorry about that! You were right the other day, I didn't consider how you felt about all this at all and I regret that, I really do. But I didn't have a choice" I replied, causing her to shake her head.

"Of course, you had a choice James. You could have told me that Beau was blackmailing you, and I would have tried to help you. But instead, you toyed with my life and my emotions, and that just makes you cruel" she responded, her tone firm as she spoke. I stuttered trying to think of something to respond with, but nothing came out. Lucy just looked at me, before shaking her head once more before walking away, leaving me in the middle of the corridor speechless and guilt ridden.

* * *

I knew that today was going to be difficult, but I seemed to underestimate how difficult sitting alone would be. For 6 years now, I've sat with at least someone at lunch and engaged in some sort of conversation, and it seems due to that, I forgot how deafening the silence was. Sure, the cafeteria was filled with noise, but it seemed distant and I was completely disconnected from it, despite how much of it was about me. I picked at my food instead of eating it, and every now and again I would catch the eye of someone staring at me before they would look away and snicker with their friends. I even caught the eye of Carlos a few times, who would just shake his head and look away from me, only adding to my pain as even though I wasn't quite sure what I had done to him, I knew I probably deserved it.

The pain of being sat alone was short lived however when a group of four occupants joined my table. I couldn't tell you any of their names, bar one of them, but I knew exactly who they were. Jocks. The one guy I actually knew the name of sat right next to me, and decided to cuddle right up to my arm, if that even is the right word.

"What's up J-Lord!" Wayne said, causing the rest of them to chuckle. It was obviously a play in g-lord, meaning gay lord, and I wasn't amused in the slightest.

"How original" I muttered back, looking over to him. It was at that point that I noticed how silent the cafeteria had actually gotten.

"What? I thought you'd appreciate the male company" he continued, now slinging his arm around my shoulder. I was quick to shrug it off, as I responded.

"That's why I'm not enjoying yours. You're not male" I responded, causing a few chuckles to sound out through the café.

"Oh, don't be like that Jamie, you don't have to hide the fact that you're attracted to me anymore. I know you just can't resist my charming good looks"

"I'm more attracted to water buffalo then I am you. Although, I can see the resemblance" I retorted, shrugging his arm off my shoulder once more as I started to get up from the table. Everyone's eyes were trained on us and no one was even trying to hide it at this point. It was clear, everyone wanted to watch the gay kid versus the jocks and by their facial expressions, they weren't disappointed. I was just about to walk away, when the prick had to tempt fate even further.

"Fine then, if you won't have me, maybe I'll have to find your little friend. Comit was it? I'm sure he'd like to do this" Wayne stated, and when I turned back to him, I could see how he was standing up from the table with a smug look on his face, and boy have I seen enough of those recently.

"Say that again!" I snapped, his smug look growing further.

"I said, maybe I'll just have to find Comit. I'm sure he'd be attracted to me. Although maybe not. He does have a thing for the pathetic!"

"How dare you!" I snapped, as I found myself walking towards him and squaring up to him.

"Alright, that's enough!" One of the teachers shouted, but for some reason, I couldn't find myself stopping.

"How dare you speak about Comit like that. He's at least three times the man you are, and you'd be lucky to even have the chance to meet him. Say whatever the fuck you want about me, but you speak about him again, and you'll regret it" I sneered, and I could see how Wayne backed off slightly when he took a step back.

"Boys stop it now!" A familiar voice spoke up, and before long I saw Miss Wainwright come up beside me. "James, come with me" she said, her voice stern as she placed a hand on my shoulder. The coach was quickly at Wayne's side, and I could see how displeased he was. Wayne was the first to walk away, once again proving the fact that I had won that confrontation, and once his back was turned I found myself following Miss Wainwright out of the cafeteria.

Everyone's eyes were still trained on me, but the only table I could seem to focus on was the one containing all my friends. They all stared back at me, but not once did any of them trying to engage in any form of communication. Instead, they all turned away and began to whisper to each other, no doubt about what had just happened.

The walk to the theatre was long and the silence was once again painful as Miss Wainwright didn't say anything. Much like usual, I started to review everything that had happened in my head, and I couldn't help but think that there was nothing else I could have done. I mean, I tried to be the bigger man and walk away, and I didn't engage in any physical activity. Well, apart from squaring up to him, but surely that would have been understandable. When we finally reached the theatre, Miss Wainwright had me sit with her on the edge of the stage, and this was the first chance I got to see her facial expression, which was a sad smile.

"I'm sorry you had to experience that James. Some people are just bigots and can't seem to keep their opinion to themselves" she commented, causing a small smile to grow on my face as well. "And don't worry about it, all four of them will be punished"

"What about me?" I asked, causing her to let out a sigh.

"We'll let you off with a warning, considering that you did square up to him" she said, but I could see the smile on her face as she said it. I knew she was proud of me for what I had done. "Let's just say that the school are aware of what happened and will try to look out for you" she continued, causing me to smile along with her. "Just remember that that doesn't mean that we will forgive you for everything. You can't just go around starting fights, expecting the school to ignore it" she added, causing me to let out a soft chuckle as she said it.

"Thank you"

"This is going to be a difficult time for you James, but if you ever want to talk to someone, just know that I am here for you" she continued, causing me to nod as the bell sounded above us. "Now go, you don't want to be late to your last lesson of the day"

* * *

It was that final lesson that was the tipping point for the day, with everyone now gossiping about me, despite me being right there. I think a small part of it was them trying to be bitter, especially when it was the cheerleaders doing it, but then again, I suppose I did humiliate their 'boyfriends' in front of everyone. The gossip seemed to be the only thing my ears could focus in on, and the whole lesson, all I heard was how 'embarrassing' my little stunt was or how 'I was only doing this for attention' and that they bet I leaked the emails myself.

Stupid assholes.

Much like my earlier lesson, I couldn't wait for this lesson to be over, especially when I felt the tears starting to well in my eyes. I remained strong, trying to focus on how to integrate as well as how I could just leave during my free next instead of waiting for the school day to officially finish. When the bell finally went, I shot up from my seat and didn't even look back as I walked from the classroom and out the main school doors. I was so close to freedom when I saw _him_ leaning against my car.

Rage seemed to fuel my body and it only seemed to grow as I saw the angry expression sitting on his face as he glared at me.

"What the fuck, Diamond!" Beau began, snapping at me as I approached the car.

"What the fuck Diamond? What the fuck Beau, you leaked my fucking emails!" I snapped back, seeing how his sneer grew.

"Yeah, because you fucking made Lucy break up with me. I knew I couldn't fucking trust you Diamond! Because of you, Lucy saw the fucking messages and snapped at me, saying that I wasn't actually into her!" That comment actually made me start to laugh.

"Your blaming me for that? What kind of fucking idiot sends a message saying all that shit when the girl is sat right next to you! I held my end of the bargain, but because you are a fucking moron, she found out and broke up with you! That isn't on me!" I shouted, and that seemed to shut him up, and that was great because my rant was only beginning. "And what, you got so angry because you're so fucking stupid that you decided to ruin my life along with it! Well newsflash buddy, that only makes you look like a bigger prick! Coming out was supposed to be my thing! I was supposed to decide who I told, and when I told them, but because of you, I was thrown into the fucking deep end and forced out to the entire school." That's when I decided to get really personal. "How would you feel if someone did that to your brother!" I asked, and that caused his eyes to snap back up to mine.

"Careful, that's thin ice your walking on" he replied, but I just shrugged.

"Good thing I can swim then" I retorted, before fulling launching into my rant. "How would your brother feel if someone outed him in front of the entire school! Cause I bet he would be as pissed as I am. And I bet that if he ever found out about what you did to me, then he would disown you completely. And you deserve that, you really fucking do Beau. You deserve to feel him shun you because what you did was really shitty, and I should know considering that I did some very questionable things to try and help you. You deserve to see how he looks at you after he finds out what you did. Only then could you possibly feel close to what I am!" I finally finished my rant and I could see how disheartened he was.

"I'm… I'm sorry" I heard him mumble, but I just didn't care.

"Just fuck off Beau. I never want to see you again!" I snapped back, causing him to drop his shoulders as he walked away from my car. Once he is gone, I get into the driver's side, and turn the engine on. As the quiet noise of the radio fills the air, I break down sobbing as the whole day has caught up to me and I could just hear everyone's voice speaking about what I have done.

I'm not sure whether five or fifteen minutes passed when I heard the passenger side door go. I didn't even bother to look, my eyes trained on my lap when I saw a bright orange packet land on it, reading 'Reese's' and heard a familiar voice speak up.

"I hear these are your favourites" the voice said, and as I looked up to its owner, I got a familiar stir in my gut as I knew exactly who it was.

"Comit"

* * *

 **I've mentioned how happy I am to have emoji's now right? 😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈**

 **Once again, thank you to RainbowDiamonds and Guest for already reviewing the last chapter, and I will see you on Monday! Until then,**

 **TTFN 😈😈**


	13. Chapter 13: Comit

**So I am just so excited to present this to you all, so let's just go! Also, the song in this chapter is Imagination by Shawn Mendes, and I would recommend listening to it. Although I am just saying that because it's a Shawn Mendes song! 😜**

* * *

He just smiled back at me, and I really couldn't believe that he was in the car with me. "Just eat those, and listen to this" he said, as he turned off the radio in the car. For a second, we were submerged into silence as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Not wanting to say anything that would ruin this moment, I began to open the packet of Reese's.

"Want one?" I offered, causing a smirk to grow on his lips.

"I thought you didn't share treats" he replied, causing me to let out a small chuckle through my tears.

"If I'm not mistaken, I also said that I wanted to bridge that gap with you" I retorted, causing his smile to grow. I nudged the packet in his direction a little, causing him to chuckle as he pulled one out of the packet with one hand, loading up Spotify with the other.

"And then, you made that comment about us both liking nuts, I remember everything" he added, a stray tear now rolling down my cheek. "Now, stop distracting me, and just listen to this ok. It'll explain everything. You'll just have to ignore the pronoun used" As soon as that was said, the car was filled with a familiar strum of a guitar, one that I knew all too well.

 _Oh, there she goes again  
Every morning it's the same  
You walk on by my house  
I wanna call out your name_

 _I want to tell you how beautiful you are from where I'm standing  
You got me thinking what we could because_

 _I keep craving, craving, you don't know it but it's true  
Can't get my mouth to say the words they want to say to you  
This is typical of love  
Can't wait anymore, I won't wait  
I need to tell you how I feel when I see us together forever_

 _In my dreams you're with me  
We'll be everything I want us to be  
And from there, who knows, maybe this will be the night that we kiss for the first time  
Or is that just me and my imagination_

 _We walk, we laugh, we spend our time walking by the ocean side  
Our hands are gently intertwined  
A feeling I just can't describe  
All this time we spent alone, thinking we could not belong to something so damn beautiful  
So damn beautiful_

As the song talked about how our hands intertwine, I saw how he put his hand out over the gear stick, and I couldn't help but link our fingers together as we both just stared at each other, listening to the song as it continued. A whole new batch of tears welled in my eyes by this point, but they were ones of joy instead of sorrow, something that hadn't happened in a long time.

 _I keep craving, craving, you don't know it, but it's true  
Can't get my mouth to say the words they want to say to you  
This is typical of love  
Can't wait anymore, I won't wait  
I need to tell you how I feel when I see us together forever_

 _In my dreams, you're with me  
We'll be everything I want us to be  
And from there, who knows, maybe this will be the night  
That we kiss for the first time  
Or is that just me and my imagination_

 _Imagination  
Imagination  
_

 _In my dreams, you're with me  
We'll be everything I want us to be  
And from there, who knows, maybe this will be the night  
That we kiss for the first time  
Or is that just me and my imagination_

 _I keep craving, craving, you don't know it, but it's true  
Can't get my mouth to say the words they want to say to you_

As the final notes of the song played, I still couldn't get over everything. First off, he's just confessed all of his feelings out to me, and secondly, he did it using a fucking Shawn Mendes song. My brain was going completely haywire about everything and I couldn't help but stare at his face, my eyes focusing down onto his lips more specifically. He must have noticed this, as I saw him lean in, just as I was leaning in and we soon met in what was probably the best kiss I had ever experienced, despite the fact that I hadn't much experience.

At first, it was just a mess, with us being unable to figure out what to do with our noses and our arms but before long, we had shifted so our noses were no longer clashing, and I found myself bring my hand up to cup his face, while his arms found their way over my shoulders and around my neck. Everything in the moment was complete bliss, like all of my worries and fears had just flown out of the window. Neither of us cared that we were sat in the school car park, we were both just enjoying the moment that was a long time coming.

When we finally pulled out, I could see that his cheeks were slightly red from embarrassment, but he had the cutest smile on his face as he stared back at me.

"It's really you" I said, causing him to nod.

"It's really me" he replied, as we smiled at each other.

"I really should have seen it sooner. I mean, you're were dying to strip in front of me on Halloween"

"Hey! At least I didn't decide to play with a buzzy bee" Kendall shot back, causing us both to chuckle at each other, neither of us saying anything. I think we both had so much to say, but neither of us could find the words to actually say it. He was the first person to finally speak up. "I'm guessing you didn't think it was me then?" he asked, causing me to shake my head.

"I will admit, I had some suspicions it was you. Did know it was me?" I asked back, causing him to tilt his head from side to side.

"I had my suspicions." He replied, causing us both to chuckle. "Mostly it was the psychic thing. It came up too soon after we'd talked about it in the emails, so I got a little bit suspicious. But other than that, you never really said anything else to make it suspect it was you" he shrugged, causing me to nod. It was definitely awkward in the car for a moment, the silence filling the air but that was interrupted when we both spoke at the same time.

"I'm sorry" we both said, looking at each other as we did so. I saw him raise his eyebrow at me, and I took that as a cue for me to start.

"I'm sorry that our emails were leaked, and that I didn't tell you about it. It's just, I thought that if you knew, you'd get spooked and stop talking to me and I really didn't want that. I really enjoyed talking to you" I said, another tear rolling down my face.

"I'm sorry that I did stop talking to you. It all just happened so fast, and you're right, I got scared and I didn't want to risk everyone finding out" he said, as he looked down at the floor.

"So, what changed?" I asked, putting my hand under his chin so he would look up at me.

"Today in the cafeteria, the way you defended me. I could see how serious you were after they mentioned my name, and if I'm being deadly honest with you, it kinda turned me on, how protective you were" he responded, his face reddening as he said it. I just placed a chaste kiss on his lips before he continued. "And I know you said about it in the emails, but actually seeing it in real life was just… _wow_. Then during Chemistry, I overheard a girl talking about how you'd done it earlier in the corridor and I just…I needed to get out of the lesson. So, I told Mrs Hunter that I needed to go to the toilet and just walked out of the school. When I saw you sat in the car, and saw that you were crying, I wanted to protect you like you had done to me." He finished, still looking me in the eyes.

Much like before, it didn't take long for the two of us to start making out again, instantly finding out rhythm as we did. When he pulled out this time, his lips were a little swollen and I can imagine that I looked exactly the same.

"Can we talk somewhere else?" he asked, as I glanced at the time on my dashboard. It was nearing let out time for the school, and I could see that he was getting slightly antsy.

"Sure, how about we go to Sundaes? I can get us something and we can just chat. Think of it like our first date." I replied, causing his face to redden with blush.

"Sure, I'd like that" he replied, causing me to chuckle over how cute he was. I placed one last chaste kiss on his lips, before turning back towards the steering wheel, and pulling out of the car park. I could see how his hand was sat on the centre console, and I couldn't help but reach over and link our finger together.

As I did, I saw another blush settle on his face as he looked over to me with a small, dimple filled smile.

* * *

When we arrived at Sundaes, we were lucky enough to get a booth in the back corner, where we could just talk and air everything. The two of us started to glance through the menu, but I could see how he was staring at me from behind it, causing me to chuckle.

"You don't need to hide while you stare" I joked, causing his face to go red from embarrassment as he put the menu down. "I just can't believe this is real. I never thought I'd have the confidence to come out during high school. I was just going to wait until college"

"Funnily enough, that was my plan as well. I was going to move away, and just begin a new life where I could just be myself" I replied, reaching my hand over the table in an attempt for him to hold it. I could see how he glanced around a little bit before placing his hand into mine.

"Hi guys, what can I get you?" we heard a perky voice say, and we looked up to see the waitress had come over to the table. I looked over at Kendall, waiting for him to say something but instead he raised his eyebrow back at me, almost like a challenge.

"Can we have two M&M waffles please" I replied with a smile, causing her to nod.

"Of course." she said, before collecting up our menus. "And FYI, you guys are super cute" she added, before walking off. When I looked over at Kendall, I could see how his face had been engulfed with a deep shade of red.

"I'm guessing it won't help if I said that you look cute when you blush" I commented, causing him to blush deeper.

"Stop it! You're horrible to me" he joked back, forcing a small pout onto his lips. In response, I reached over the table and placed another chaste kiss onto his lips, causing that pout to disappear. "So, I have to ask you something" he began, causing me to raise an eyebrow at him. "What happened between you and Dak? I mean, one day you and him are best mates and the next thing, you're leaving his party early as you try to hide the fact that you're crying" he continued, causing me to look down at the table.

"You noticed that?"

"I was drunk, but not blind." He replied, with a shrug. When I hesitated, I felt him squeeze my hand. "I promise you can tell me James, and I won't judge." He added, causing me to nod. Before I could start, the waiter delivered our food and that allowed me a little break to collect my thoughts. Once we were both finished, I began the story.

"I suppose it all began on the day I sent the email to you about gossip. It was later in the day and I was sat in a free when Beau came up to me. He said that he'd logged onto a computer after me and that I'd left my Gmail open, so he read my emails. That's when he started to blackmail me. He said that he'd taken screenshots of them and that if I didn't help him get with Lucy, then we would leak them on the school's Tumblr. It was actually right before you and Dak joined me"

"So you went along with it? That's what you said in the email, 'you did everything you could to protect me' so I'm guessing you helped him"

"Yeah, it wasn't the wisest choice, but I knew that I had to. Anyway, so the day I had sent the email about me and the buzzy bee, I got a phone call from Dak saying that he was thinking of asking Lucy out."

"So, you had to lie to him"

I nodded. "I told him that Lucy told me she had a boyfriend back in Oklahoma. He believed me"

"And then Halloween happened."

I nodded again. "I wasn't expecting Beau and Lucy to actually announce they were together and especially so soon, but apparently I was wrong. So, obviously Dak called me upstairs and asked why I lied to him. He said that he asked Lucy about her 'boyfriend' and obviously found out that he didn't exist."

"But you couldn't explain why you lied before that would mean that you would have to come out"

I nodded once more. "So, he got pissed and said that I should leave. Since then, he hasn't spoken to me. Camille came around the day after and asked what happened, so I lied to her as well, which I'm guessing is why she is pissed at me"

"And I'm guessing Lucy found out about the blackmail."

"Yeah, she found messages from me and Beau saying about it and broke up with him. Obviously, Beau got pissed off about it and leaked the emails."

"And here we are now" Kendall finished causing me to nod.

"Here we are" I replied, glancing down at the table.

"It's a difficult one James, it really is but I think now that everything is out there, you should just explain it to everyone. I mean, I'm sure they would understand right?"

"Not Lucy apparently" I replied, causing him to raise his eyebrow. "She came around after you stopped emailing me and gave me a mouthful. I told her everything that happened, but she didn't care. I tried again earlier at school, but she still wasn't interested"

"Just give her a little more time. I'm sure she'll understand eventually. But, I think you should at least explain everything to Camille. I could see how bummed she was today at lunch, and the table was dead without you James." He said, giving my hand another squeeze.

"But what if they don't forgive me?" I replied, my voice small and full of nerves, and my eyes filling with water again as they focused down on the table.

"Then you'll have me. I'll spend lunches with you so you're not alone, and I'll even wait outside your classrooms for you in a proper rom-com fashion" He replied, his voice firm with a smile on his face.

"What, like a…like a boyfriend?" I asked back, my tone saying the same as I prepared myself for the answer.

"Exactly like boyfriends. If you want that, that is" he replied, as I lifted my head up to look at him. He was just smiling back at me, but I could see how nervous he was in his eyes.

"Are you serious, of course I want that. You know how I feel about you. I love you" I responded, mumbling the last bit as I got slightly embarrassed.

"I love you too" He replied, squeezing my hand one again, but I could see he was just as embarrassed as I was. "And I wouldn't worry about them not forgiving you. Camille was ready to jump up and defend you when Wayne. So was I actually, especially after hearing you defend me. If it weren't for Jett and Dak, I think the two of us about have actually punched him"

When the waitress came over to take away our plates and placed the bill on our table, the two of us took that as a sign to leave. I was quick to grab it, causing Kendall to raise an eyebrow at me.

"How much is it?" he asked, causing me to shake my head.

"Nah ah, I've got this one" I replied, causing him to roll his eyes at me.

"Seriously come on, let me get it" he replied, but when I pulled the receipt into my chest, he sighed "Fine, but I get the next one"

"So, you want a next date?" I smiled back, blush settling on his face as I chuckled. "Deal"

* * *

I finally paid for the waffles, and when the two of us made our way outside, I knew that I didn't want to leave him just yet. I just had this feeling, like I just wanted to be near him constantly, and yes, I know how weird that sounds, but I didn't care. He must have had the same feeling as he asked if I wanted to just go for a walk, something I was quick to nod at. We quickly settled back into conversation.

"So, how was your Christmas?" he asked, causing me to shrug.

"Surprisingly, it wasn't actually so bad. After the emails were leaked, I was pretty sure that this would be my first Christmas to suck, but it actually didn't. I came out to my parents on Christmas day, and they were super supportive, and I feel like we've been closer ever since. The only real bummer was seeing Snapchats of the party on New Year's"

"Yeah, I can imagine that was difficult for you. Everyone asked about you by the way, we all wondered where you were. Dak just told everyone you were spending it with your parents, but a small part of me knew that you hadn't been invited. If it helps, you didn't miss much, as it was only the small group of us. Dak and Lucy got super drunk, but the rest of us sort of just sat there. I think Camille felt guilty about you not being there. We all did want you there James but any time we mentioned you, Dak got defensive"

"Anyway, enough about that. How was your Christmas?"

"Interesting. I spend a lot of it thinking about you" he replied, a small blush settling on his face. "I felt bad about stopping the emails, so I went back and read them all. I think I fell in love with you all over again when I did, knowing that there was a face now connected to it all and I spent a lot of it considering whether I should come out to you"

"And you did"

"Well, like I said earlier, after today, in the cafeteria, I knew that I had to say something. But anyway, I didn't really do much other than that. I saw most of my family I suppose" he continued with a shrug.

"So, I have to ask. When you said in the email about you spending most of the night on Halloween alone, did you mean when I left?" I asked, causing him to nod.

"Yeah, I'm sorry for interrupting you and Logan, but I was drunk and just wanted you to be happy. I think a small part of me knew it was you then, but I was drunk so." He shrugged.

"I didn't want to go" I quickly added, causing him to chuckle.

"I know. I guess I thought that we could hang out when you came back down, but obviously that didn't happen"

"I'm sorry" I replied, causing him to chuckle.

"What for? You didn't know how I felt"

"Yeah, but I ruined that whole night for you. I just feel so bad. I mean, you were crying after I left" I replied, causing him face to go bright red.

"But, you went into your protective mode when I came stumbling up to you, and you know how I feel about that" he joked, causing me to chuckle.

"Horn dog" I joked back, nudging him as I did so. His face went a darker shade of red as he continued

"Anyway, when you left I did pretty much spent the night alone. Jett did look after me, and I did beg for you, I'm not going to lie, but Jett didn't really do a lot, he just sat with me. Didn't talk or anything."

As much as I wanted to kiss him, we were in public, so I needed to be careful with what I did. Conversation on a busy street was something that we could get away with, but everyone would notice me kissing him on the cheek. Instead, I steered our conversation into another direction.

"So, I'm guessing that no one else knows" I asked, causing him to shake his head.

"No, you and that waitress are the only people who know" he joked back, causing me to chuckle. "Although I've been thinking about telling my mum and sister for a little while, and being with you is definitely helping me have a little bit of confidence"

"Do you think she'll…um…how do you think she'll…um" I began to stutter, wondering how to word what I was trying to see. Kendall just seemed to chuckle next to me, before taking over.

"I think they'll be ok with it, if that's what you mean" he commented, causing me to blush a little which he chuckled out. "But I think it'll be a shock to my mum."

"It was a shock for mine as well. When I told them, I looked up to see them both crying. The few seconds before they said anything wasn't fun" I replied, before taking his hand into mine quickly, and squeezing it before letting it go. "But I felt so much better after I did it. I'm guessing you know what I mean when I say that it feels like a weight has been lifted off your shoulder" He nodded in response, and I could see he was thinking the whole situation over. "I can be there with you if it'll help?" I offered, causing him to shake his head.

"I'll be alright. I think if I came out, and said I had a boyfriend, it might be a little much at first" he joked, causing me to chuckle.

* * *

The two of us must have walked around for about another hour after that, just sharing anything and everything we could about each other. I told him about my parents and their jobs, and in turn, he mentioned how his mum was a doctor and that his dad had died a few years back. Kendall said that he was an air force pilot and that his plane was shot down during a recon mission. I expressed my deepest of sympathies, and I could see that he was grateful for that. I wasn't until I got a text message that I knew that I should probably be heading home.

As we walked back to the Sundaes car park, I notice how close the two of us had gotten during our walk. We still weren't holding hands or anything, but as we walked, our shoulders seemed to graze each other's, and our hands were practically touching.

"So, do you need me to drop you back at the school, so you can grab your car?" I asked, but he shook his head as we opened the doors and got in.

"Would you be able to drop me home, if that's ok? I don't drive in anymore, my mum's car went completely bust, so she is using mine while she looks for a new one. With her working however, it might be a while"

"Then I'll pick you up every morning" I replied, causing him to raise an eyebrow at me as he turned to face me. "What? I kinda want to spend as much time with you as a I can" I continued, blushing as I did so.

As the car started, he reached over and placed a chaste kiss onto my cheek before saying "How did I get so lucky"

* * *

 **So there we have it! Comit is Kendall, and I know that a lot of you will be happy about that! So, this chapter was a lot of talking between the two of them, and we found a few things out! So, it was Dak that didn't invite James to the party and he told everyone that James couldn't make it, and we also found out that both Camille and Kendall were ready to jump up and defend James! I've seen a few of you say screw his friends, so I hope this shines some light on their situation!**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to RainbowDiamonds, Guest, Winterschild11 and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last couple of chapters, and I hope that you enjoyed the reveal! A few of you, cough RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed cough, were slightly annoyed by the cliffhanger, but I thought it made good writing 😜 I feel like somewhere on my profile I should have a sticker that tells everyone I am evil 😂😂 You all also seemed to like the twist with Lucy find out, and I had to admit, I am proud of that one!**

 **I will say that I am really thankful for all the support you guys have left on this story so far, and even though Comit has now been revealed, we still have eight chapters to go! Anyway, I will see you all on Monday for the next chapter of Class Vs Character but until then,**

 **TTFN 😃**


	14. Chapter 14: One Foot Forward

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Love, James! Thank you all so much for the support on the last chapter, and I'm so glad that you all enjoyed the Comit reveal, but I will get to that at the end. So, let's crack on!**

* * *

It was safe to say that I was in one of the best moods I'd ever been, and I think that showed by my method of getting ready that morning. With my music blasting, I got into the shower where I just sung and danced my heart out, not caring who heard me, or even what I sounded like. That kept going the whole morning, with me prancing about my room as I grabbed my clothes for the day, for some reason feeling the need to try on quite a few different outfits.

I suppose it was because I really wanted to impress Kendall, despite the fact that I knew he liked me already. Hell, he confessed me loved me, and that was probably why I was in such a good mood. Settling on a white t-shirt, a black leather jacket, some black skinny jeans and a pair of boots, I sorted out my hair into its usual style before grabbing my backpack off the floor and heading downstairs for some breakfast. When I walked into the kitchen, I saw my mum waiting for me with a cup of coffee, and I could see the massive smile on her face.

"Morning" I said, grabbing the cup from her hand, as I placed a kiss onto her cheek.

"You're in a good mood today" she replied, causing me to blush as I took a sip of my drink.

"It's been a good day" I replied, causing her to smile as she shook her head. To be fair, I wasn't lying, it had been a good day. And by that, I meant that Kendall had sent me a text message, saying good morning, and that he couldn't wait to see me. I knew it was extremely cheesy, but it made my heart melt as I read it.

"Well, I'm glad to see you smiling again. You haven't really been this happy for a little while" she continued, before downing the rest of her mug and placing it into the dish washer. "I've got to head off but remember that your father and I are going out to a 'thank you' dinner with the Morrisons, so we won't be back until later"

As she said that, a light bulb went off, and I had a small thought that I could maybe bring Kendall back later, so I just nodded as a response. She just smiled once again, before walking over and placing a kiss onto my cheek as she made her way to the door.

"See you later mum, love you" I said as the door opened, and with a quick glance back at me, she said "Love you too honey and be safe" before winking and leaving the house. I suddenly blushed at her action, wondering how she knew, but didn't question it for too long as I knew I didn't have long before I had to go get Kendall.

Get my boyfriend.

God, I'll never get tired of saying that.

* * *

As I pulled up to Kendall's house, I started to feel super excited to see the blond again, but I was also beginning to become very curious. ' _Would he have told his family?'_ was my main thought and of course that's when the small set of worry started to come in. _'What if they didn't accept him, and he isn't allowed to see me?'_ I then began to panic, but that all stopped when the door to his house opened, and he emerged. As soon as he saw me, he waved, and I saw the small blush that settled across his face, one that I couldn't help but chuckle at. As I waved back, I saw two figures emerge from the door behind him, and as the three of them made their way over to the car, I started to get all flustered. When he arrived at the door, and opened it, I was quick to compose myself.

"Hi Ms Knight" I said with a smile, one that she was quick to return.

"Hi James, is it?" she asked, causing me to nod. "I just wanted to say thank you for taking Kendall to school. It's quite a long walk, and I can't help but worry for him" she continued, and I chuckled as the blond blushed beside me.

"Don't worry about it Ms Knight, anything I can do help"

"Please, call me Jennifer or Mama Knight. All his other friends do, so of course his bo…"

"Ok, bye mum love you" Kendall was quick to interrupt, the blush on his face massive as Jennifer stepped back.

"Love you too sweetie. And remember that I'm working nights tonight" she replied, causing him to nod. "See you later James. I hope to see you soon" she said to me, before giving us both a wave, and walking back up to the house. The other figure that was with them however was a small brunet girl, and I could see the fire in her stare. She didn't even say anything to me, but I knew exactly what she meant, 'Hurt Kendall, and I'll kill you'. She stared at me for a little longer before walking away, leaving me slightly intimidated. When the front door was shut, Kendall let out a massive sigh, as he placed his head in his hands.

"I can see you staring at me" he mumbled, causing me to chuckle as I started the engine up and put the car into gear.

"I'm guessing it went well then" I asked, not that the question needed to be asked, considering how his mum reacted.

"A little too well maybe. She's already planning to take me to pride" he responded, finally pulling his head out of his hands. I just chuckled, taking his hand into my own as I pulled away from his house.

"That's not too bad. I had my mum tell me to 'be safe' before winking at me" I replied, causing him to chuckle.

"Looks like both our parents know about us then"

"Well, my mum doesn't know who it is, but your mum seems to have a good idea" I joked back, causing another blush to settle on his face.

"It may have slipped out somewhere" he replied, as I lifted his hand up so that I could give it a small kiss.

"Speaking of our parents, mine are going out for a meal later, so I didn't know if you wanted to come around? We could order in some food, and watch a couple films or something?" I asked, becoming slightly nervous as I did so. It wasn't until he replied that those nerves settled down.

"Sounds perfect" he replied, reaching over and placing a small kiss onto my cheek, causing a smile to grace my face.

* * *

When we arrived at the school car park, I could see how nervous Kendall had become. His eyes kept flicking between the school and the foot well, and he was pulling his sleeves down over his hands, stretching the jumper he was wearing. None of us made a move to get out of the car, with me instead reaching over and pulling his hand into mine. As I did so, he glanced over at me, and that was all the proof I needed that he was freaking out.

"Hey" I said, speaking softly so that I wouldn't make him any worse. "What's up?"

"I'm just a little scared as to how everyone is going to react" he replied and quirked my eyebrow at him.

"React?"

"To me coming out. I said yesterday that I want us to be boyfriends, and I meant everything I said after that. I don't want to hide anymore James" he spoke, and despite his nerves, I could tell how serious he was about this.

"You don't have to do this Kendall, I'm just happy to have you. But if you're going to go for it, I'll be with you every step of the way" I replied, squeezing his hand to show him that I was serious. With that, he reached over and placed a chaste kiss on my cheek before reaching for the door handle.

"Let's do this" he breathed out, letting go of my hand before he got out of the car, me following close behind. We both got our bags and swung them over our shoulders, and after I had locked the car, the two of us joined hands again as we walked into the school.

Everyone glanced over when they saw what was happened, and when I heard the whispers starting, I squeezed his hand again to show I was there for him. Much like I did every morning, I made my way over to my locker, holding Kendall's hand the entire time, and when we got there, I heard him let out a sigh of relief.

"You feeling ok?" I asked, as I spun the dial, entering my code.

"Yeah, I'm getting better. I can't imagine what it would have been like for you. I mean, I'm choosing for everyone to find out, but you, whew" he replied, as I placed a few books into my bag.

"As long as you're ok" I replied, shutting my locker door and turning to him. When he nodded his head, I decided to both settle his nerves, and some of the conspiracies I kept hearing, placing a chaste kiss onto his forehead. He blushed at my action, before taking his hand into my own once again. "Come on, let's get to maths" I said, nodding my head in the direction of the classroom. He nodded, placing a kiss onto my cheek before leading the way.

As we walked through the corridors, I couldn't help but tune in to what some people were saying, and I have to admit, this time I was slightly relieved by what I was hearing. Of course, everyone was shocked by Kendall coming out, but I did hear a lot of people saying that we were cute together, or that they were happy for us, which was weird to hear from the same people who were gossiping about me only 24 hours ago.

* * *

Maths seems to pass relatively quickly, with Kendall and I working together on most of the work, and I couldn't help but praise him about how intelligent he was, something that he never seemed to tire of. When the lesson ended, I knew that this would either make or break the day, with us heading to the hellhole which was a cafeteria, and everyone that would accompany it.

Hopefully with the two of us together, it wouldn't be so bad but who knows whether an asshat was going to ruin it or not. This time, we decided not to link hands as we walked, knowing that he'd already drawn enough attention to the two of us, but that didn't stop the fact that we were walking very close together, and to be honest, it probably would have been less obnoxious if we did hold hands.

As we walked in, I took a quick glance around the room, seeing that everyone was settled into their usual places, but my eyes seemed to mostly focus on the table with the rest of our friends. Well, Kendall's friends, as I still didn't know where I stood with them. They all glanced over at the two of us, and when I offered a small smile that wasn't returned, I felt Kendall nudge my arm.

"Come on, let's sit down" he said, now grabbing my hand as he led the two of us over to an empty table. "You just need to give them a little time James, and explain what happened when you get the chance" he said, as we sat down and began to pull some food out of our bags.

"I know, but I feel bad. You shouldn't have to sit with me instead of them just because I messed up" I replied, causing him to shake his head, and place a small kiss onto my cheek.

"Don't be ridiculous, you're my boyfriend, of course I want to sit with you" he responded, and that cause a blush to settle across my face, which he chuckled at.

"You know, this is about the fifth time I've seem James blush. You must be doing something right Kendall" the two of us heard a voice and when we looked up, we saw Camille stood at the table. "Mind if I sit?"

"Of course not Camille" Kendall replied, shaking his head, while I just sat their speechless at her presence.

"So, when did this happen" she asked, her eyes flicking between the two of us with a smile on her face.

"If you're taking about us dating, yesterday, but we've been chatting for about 6 months or so now" Kendall replied, with me staring down at the table. I've never actually felt this…awkward around Camille before but I knew the whole thing was completely justified. _'She isn't here for me. She just wants to chat to Kendall'_ My brain kept saying, as the two of them talked about Kendall and I meeting last night after school.

"I never knew you were a fan of Shawn Mendes, James" Camille said, the whole table descending into silence as she seemed to wait for an answer. When I looked back up at her, I could see that she was smiling back at me, and that seemed to settle my nerves slightly.

"What, he's hot" The words seemed to leave my mouth before I could actually stop them, a small smile forming on my lips as I looked at her. The two of them seemed to chuckle at my comment, causing me to visible relax slightly as conversation continued.

"I'll remember that for your birthday. I'm sure there is some nice merch out there that I can buy you. Maybe something with his face on it" she replied, causing me to blush again. "So, how did you start messaging in the first place?"

"I replied to Kendall's poem on Tumblr" I began, suddenly finding my voice and my confidence again. "The one about the tug of war. When I saw it, it basically summarised my entire life, so I left a comment on it"

"At first I was really sceptical of it, you know what the school is like" Kendall took over, causing Camille to nod. She knew exactly what this school was like after the scene that happened yesterday with me. "But James managed to convince me it was genuine, and we just started to talk. We told each other about how we realised we were gay"

"And how did you" Camille asked, causing me to blush further. The two of us seemed to silence, but Camille didn't give up, her eyes feeling like they were piercing into my soul. Without even thinking about it, my brain seemed to confess.

"Remember when you made me watch the Twilight films before Breaking Dawn Part Two came out" I said, causing her to gasp, as something clicked.

"No wonder you wanted to watch them all at once! Who was it!"

"Jacob"

"Traitor" she mumbled back, shaking her head as she did so. Silence stretched over the table again once again, and I knew it was due to unaired tension that existed between us about what I had done. Taking a deep breath, I began.

"Camille, I'm so sor…"

"Later James, later. Let me just enjoy lunch with my best friend and his boyfriend, and then after school we can have a proper talk" she interrupted, causing me to nod. She moved a strand of hair her out of her eyes, before continuing the conversation with the two of us. The awkwardness still loomed over the table, but we all tried our best to ignore it.

The important thing was that she was talking to me again, and I took that as a good sign.

* * *

Kendall could tell how nervous I was about talking to Camille and decided to wait with me until she arrived. He had offered to stay with me during as well, but I thought that it would be best if I spoke to her alone, so that we could be brutally honest with each other. I didn't need her being nice to me for Kendall's sake, not that she would be anyway. We were waiting by the bleachers, where we knew that we could privacy about everything since sports had now shifted from football to basketball, and while the two of us sat in the stands, Kendall pulled me into a hug.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine James. Just tell her what you told me, that's all you can do" he said, as I nodded into his chest.

"Ok" I mumbled back, causing him to place a kiss onto my forehead.

"I should have expected Kendall to be here" Camille joked, me pulling my head off from Kendall's chest to look up at her. With one last kiss onto my cheek, he retracted from the hug.

"I was just leaving"

"Wait, I didn't mean it like that" Camille replied, quickly backtracking what she had said.

"It's fine, it's best I leave the two of you to air things. I was going to go anyway" he replied, causing her to nod, and with the two of us waving goodbye, he disappeared from site. With my safety net gone, I looked up at Camille who had her eyebrow raised at me. That definitely didn't help my confidence, and the tone she spoke in also didn't help.

"Explain, now" she said, her tone soft yet commanding causing me to nod as I began.

"It all started the Monday before the football game" I began, seeing how she shifted in order to get comfortable. Good thing as well, because this was a long story. "I was sat in a free, when Beau came up to me, and the basic gist of the conversation was that he'd found out about me emailing Kendall, and he said that if I helped him get with Lucy, he'd delete them"

"Lucy, it's always Lucy" Camille muttered, shaking her head but when I raised an eyebrow back at her, she silenced herself, not explaining anything as she ordered me to continue.

"So, I tried to do everything I could to get them together. At first, it was simple stuff like asking him if he wanted to come to Sundaes with us on the Friday after the game, but it quickly got a whole lot more complicated. Dak rang me one night, and confessed to me that he liked Lucy, and I had to lie to him, saying that Lucy had a boyfriend. I knew that if Dak and Lucy got together, then Beau would leak the emails, and out me, so I had to lie to him. When Lucy wanted to practise with me for the play, it's why I invited Beau up with us, because I knew it would be a good opportunity for them to get to know each other, and it worked really well"

"And then Halloween happened" she added, causing me to nod.

"To be perfectly honest with you, I don't know what I was expecting out of that. I mean, I think I forgot the fact that if the two of them got together, they'd tell everyone so when I lied to Dak I thought that would be it. Then obviously Beau and Lucy told everyone on Halloween, and Dak dragged me upstairs. When we got up there, he asked why I lied to him, and he did say that he thought I liked Lucy, but when I said I didn't, he blew up at me, staying that he didn't understand why I lied to him then. At the time, I didn't want to tell him the truth, because that meant that I would have had to come out to him, and I wasn't ready for that, so I just said I couldn't tell him. That's when he kicked me out"

"And then I came around the next day, and you didn't want to tell me the truth either because you would have had to come out to me" she added, causing me to nod as a stray tear formed in my eye. "You could have told me James, I really don't care that you're gay" she said, pulling me into a hug.

"It's not that, it's just that I wasn't ready to tell anyone. If I would have come out, then everything would have changed, and I really didn't want that to happen. I mean, not that it matters now, everything's already changed" I mumbled the last part, and she squeezed me a little bit.

"But there's some good to that change right. I mean, you finally have a boyfriend."

"And everyone hates me"

"They don't hate you James, they're just annoyed because of what happened. Well, Dak and Lucy are. I don't think Logan and Jett know the whole situation and are a little more curious then anything. Logan keeps asking about you" she replied, causing me to nod in her arms. Steering the conversation back on topic, she asked "So, why did the emails get leaked?"

"Um… well, when Lucy and Beau got together, Beau came and visited me in the library again and when I asked if he had deleted the emails, he said that he was going to wait until Christmas to do it, in order to make sure that Lucy and I hadn't conspired against him. So, after school had finished for Christmas break, Beau text me saying that it wasn't long until the emails were gone, and I text back, saying that I hated him for what he had done etcetera, but it turns out that Lucy saw the message, and loaded it up reading them all. She found out about the whole plot, and broke up with him"

"So, he posted them all, and that's when I called you" she added, causing me to nod.

"After I hung up on you, I read the post and sent Kendall an email, saying how sorry I was and all that, but he said that he had to stop emailing me" I started to get all tearful remembering it again. "So, after he stopped messaging me, Lucy came in and started having a go at me about it and once she'd done that, she left, leaving me completely alone."

"Oh god James, I'm so sorry, I should have tried to talk to you over Christmas. It's just, I read the posts and since you hung up on me, I went around Dak's house to see if he wanted to come around to yours with me. That's when he told me what had happened in his bedroom, and I was just so angry that you lied to me" she replied, but I just nodded.

"You did nothing wrong. I was the one who lied to everyone in order to help myself"

"But I can see why you did it. Most people would have done what you did in a situation like that James, and I think you just need to explain that to Dak and Lucy, and they'll forgive you"

"Lucy didn't. I told her everything and she didn't care" I replied, causing her to shake her head.

"Well, Lucy's a bitch, so fuck her, but you should at least explain to Dak. I'm sure he'd forgive you if you did. I mean, he said to me that you were going to tell him everything after Christmas, and he was willing to forgive you then, so give it a go" Another small smile formed on my lips, as she squeezed us in the hug once again. "As for me and you, we're cool. I can see why you did it, and I think most people would have done the same"

"Thank you Camille"

"That's what best friends are for. Now, go get Kendall. I don't want to keep my new OTP apart for too long" she said with a chuckle, but I knew that she wasn't joking. With one last hug, the two of us made our way off of the bleachers and towards the library.

Now that the air had been cleared, the two of us were quick to settle back into our normally routine, one that I was so grateful to see again.

* * *

 **So there we have it! Kendall came out to his whole family and to everyone at school, and James and Camille talked it out and made up, with him explaining everything to her!**

 **So, I want to say a massive thank you to Winterschild11, Guest, EpicallyObsessed and RainbowDiamonds for reviewing the last chapter, and I'm so glad that you liked the Comit reveal, as well as how adorable Kames are, and just me when I say that there is so much more cute Kames to come! I'm not going to lie, I must have read all your reviews about 10 times, because they bring a smile to my face with how happy you guys are about it, so thank you so much! Oh, and thank you for calling me Evil once again 😈**

 **I will see you all on Monday for the next chapter of Class Vs Character, but until then,**

 **TTFN 😃**


	15. Chapter 15: First Time Troubles

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Love, James! I will say now, that this is one of my favourite chapters in this story,so let's crack on shall we? I'm going to keep saying this now for the sake of RainbowDiamonds 😜**

* * *

When we arrived at the Library, I glanced around to see Kendall sat at a table with his earphones in. There were some others occupying the room as well, but none seemed even phased by his presence and that made me smile. I'm not going to lie, I was slightly concerned about him going off by himself, especially after all of the grief that I had gotten yesterday but luckily it seemed that he wasn't getting any of it.

As we made our way over to him, he didn't seem to notice, instead being completely engrossed in his work. This caused the smile on my face to grow slightly, and when I looked over at Camille, I knew she knew what I was thinking. With a nod, she lagged behind a little bit, while I sneaked over to my boyfriend.

God, I'm never going to tire of that.

Anyway, he didn't seem to notice when I got right behind him, but instead of scaring him like I could have, instead I wrapped by arms around his neck and I pulled him into a hug. I felt him tense slightly, before he immediately relaxed into it, bringing his arms up to my own as if to keep them in place.

"I could get used to this" he said, turning his head slightly so that he could give me a kiss on the cheek.

"So, could I" I whispered into his ear, before returning the kiss.

"You guys are seriously too cute!" Camille said, now approaching the two of us, and her presence caused Kendall to blush. Of course, as soon as he blushed, I chuckled before kissing him once again, only making his blush worse because he knew how much I loved it.

"So, we all good?" he asked, causing me to nod against his shoulder.

"Yeah, all is forgiven" Camille said, patting me on the back, causing me to pull out of the hug with Kendall. "So, I'll see you guys tomorrow then." She continued, causing me to nod as I pulled her into another hug.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow, and thank you again" I replied, causing her to smile and nod as we pulled out.

"See you tomorrow Kendall, and stay safe" she added with a wink, causing both of us to blush which she chuckled at. With her walking out of the door, I took a seat at the table while Kendall began to pack his stuff again.

"It went well then?" he asked again, causing me to nod. "See, I told you that you just needed to explain it to her, and all would be ok"

"I know, and thank you for that." I said, flashing him a quick smile before continuing. "I explained everything to her, and she understood, even said she'd do the same in my situation. She also said that everyone doesn't hate me, and that Logan and Jett are just confused about what happened" I added, causing him to nod.

"I could have told you that. Jett's not the brightest bulb in the bunch, and Logan probably doesn't have all the facts to form a conclusion" he commented, causing me to chuckle. "Anyway, you ready to head out?"

I nodded, causing the two of us to stand up from our chairs. As soon as we were up, I saw him reach his hand out, and I was quick to take it into my own, linking our fingers together. I saw a few people in the Library glance around at us, but I was quick to shake it off.

At the moment, I didn't care what they thought, as I was content with my boyfriend next to me.

* * *

As the two of us climbed into my car, I thought back to this morning, and one particular thought lingered in my mind. As a turned the key in the ignition, I turned to him. "So, I have to ask, why was your sister was giving me evils this morning?" I said, causing him to chuckle as I put the car into gear.

"That's Katie for you" he replied, resting his hand on the centre console like usual. I smile at his action, and as we began to drive, I interlinked our fingers. "She wasn't fussed about me coming out, it was the mention of a boyfriend that she focused on"

"She was focusing on me alright" I added, causing him to chuckle before continuing.

"I'm not going to lie to you, she was sussing you out, seeing if you were good enough for me and all that" he replied, causing me to raise an eyebrow at him. He could see the question that was burning in my eyes, and with a chuckle, he answered. "She's 12, but a hell of a lot smarter than me"

"She is also very intimidating for a 12 year old"

"Please, you haven't even seen the worst of it yet" Kendall scoffed, causing my eyes to widen.

"You mean?"

"Yep, she'll be the one to question you if you ever come around" he replied, causing me to pale slightly.

"Are you trying to scare me off?" I asked, causing him to chuckle as he brought our interlinked hands up to his face.

"I don't think I could do that if I tried" he replied, before placing a kiss onto our hands. I seemed to melt into it, causing him to beam as he placed our hands back on the centre console. "But the good thing about her being so mature is that mum feels comfortable leaving her by herself. Hence, why I'm here with you"

"That and you love me" I teased, causing him to chuckle once again.

"I do love you" he replied, now leaning over to place a kiss on my cheek. Again, I melted into his touch, letting out a content sigh as he did so. "So, how was your day?" he continued, causing me to shrug.

"Oh, you know, it was a typical school day. Some lessons were dull, others were alright, what about you? How was your first day after coming out?" I replied, causing him to blush slightly.

"It was good actually, although I feel bad for yesterday, letting you go through it on your own" he replied, causing me to shrug.

"It's ok, you weren't ready" I responded, now bringing our hands up to kiss them.

"I know, but still. The whispering, and the glances, it's definitely hurtful but at least I knew that I had you to help me with it. I don't think I could have done it without you. You're definitely my hero" Kendall stated, causing me to blush.

"And you're mine" I replied, him blushing in return. We both glanced over at each other and let out a soft chuckle before the car seemed to descend into silence, well expect for the radio.

The two of us were content with each other presence, holding hands as I drove us back to my house. And damn, did it feel perfect.

* * *

When we finally got to my house, I began to feel all nervous for some reason. I was putting it down to the fact that I was bringing someone home for the first time in my life, and I suppose finally opening myself up to someone. It sounds really weird, because I've had Camille and Dak round loads of times, but this felt different, almost like I was showing Kendall a whole new part of myself. Like I said, it was weird, and I didn't understand why. As I turned the car off and got out, Kendall and I instantly reached for each other's hands, almost like it had now become a reflex, and I have to say, it was one that I didn't mind one it. The blond's eyes seemed to be trailing over the house, as it to take it in and it made me feel slightly insecure, but when he looked over and smiled at me, all those feelings seemed to be replaced with bliss.

"Why do you look so nervous?" he asked as he squeezed my hand, causing me to chuckle slightly.

"If I'm being honest I don't know." I replied, squeezing his hand back. "I think it's because I'm showing my boyfriend my house for the first time, and I'm scared to see what you think about it" I continued, causing him to laugh and shake his head.

"You're ridiculous" he said, before reaching over and kissing my cheek just as we walked up to my door. As I placed the key into the door, I could feel how sweaty my hands had become, so I was quick to unlock it, hoping that Kendall wouldn't notice, and that if he had he wouldn't say anything about it. The blond seemed to ignore the situation however, as I gestured for him to go into the house first, something he was quick to do.

I took another deep breath, before following him in, watching as his eyes seemed to dart about the hallway. Before long, they landed on one framed picture in particular, and he seemed to let out a small gasp at it, causing me to roll my eyes slightly. I knew exactly what picture he was looking at, and when he let go of my hand, I knew he was going to give it a closer look. I took the opportunity to take my shoes off, before walking up behind him, as he stared at the photo.

"Look how angry you are! It's so cute!" he said, my face going red with blush as he turned to face me.

"Look, I was 5 and really wanted to wear my new clothes to school, but my mum wouldn't let me" I replied, causing him to chuckle.

"So, you threw a tantrum in the toy basket under the stairs?" he replied, causing me to nod as I blushed further. "So cute!" he said again, placing a kiss onto my cheek before leaning down to take his shoes off. Once that was done, the two of us seemed to enter a state of limbo, with him just looking around the house while I just shifted in my space. I had no clue what I was supposed to do now, but what I did know was that I just wanted to pull him into another kiss.

"So, do you want a drink or anything?" I asked, trying to be a good host as I acted like it was just one of my friends' round.

"Can I just have some water please?" he replied, causing me to nod as I led him into the kitchen. Again, his eyes seemed to dart all around the room as he took in the furniture and decorations as I reached into the fridge and grabbed a couple bottles of water.

"You want anything to eat, or do you want to order some things in later?" I continued, my head still in the fridge as I spoke.

"We can just get something later" he replied, me nodding once again before finally pulling my head out and passing him the drink as I shut the fridge door. The two of us stood there in limbo once again, as we opened our bottles and took a sip, and before long, I found myself chuckling slightly. When he looked at me with a raised eyebrow, I spoke.

"Sorry, I don't know why this is so awkward" I commented, causing him to join in with my chuckle.

"It's fine, I'm being a little awkward myself" he replied, flashing me a small smile.

"So, do you want to like…watch a film or something? Or we could play some video games together?"

"A film sounds good." He replied, causing me to nod as I began to walk to my stairs. As soon as I put my foot onto the first one however, I seemed to freeze slightly, as a million thoughts rushed through my head. ' _What if he thinks you're being too forward by taking him upstairs. He might get the wrong idea and freak out!'_ My brain said, causing me to panic slightly as I turned back to him, seeing how he was just looking at me with an eyebrow raised again.

"Do you… I mean we don't…do you want to watch it in the living room, or upstairs?" I finally asked after stuttering, causing him to chuckle.

"Upstairs is good. I will admit I'm curious to see what your room is like" he replied, causing me to nod once again, as he made our way upstairs. Luckily, I had cleaned my room this morning, so I knew that it wasn't going to be a complete tip, but it still looked like a typical boys' room with a few clothes on the floor and some rubbish on the desk.

"I'm sorry for the mess" I said as we walked in causing him to chuckle.

"It's fine, my room is in a similar state" he replied, causing me to nod as we made our way over to my bed. He was quick to sit down on it, and I saw how he sunk into it slightly.

"Damn, your mattress is so soft!" he said, as he bounced on it slightly, seeing how it flexed under his weight. After that, he scooted himself over so that he was laying down on the bed, wiggling slightly so that he could get comfy. "Damn, I could get used to this" he continued, causing me to chuckle as I climbed onto it next to him with the TV remote in my hand.

"It's nice to see you making yourself at home" I chuckled, causing a small smile to grow on his face as I loaded up Netflix. "Anything in particular you wanted to watch?" I asked, scrolling through the various films. I notice how he seemed to shuffle slightly closer to me on the bed, and that caused a blush to settle on my face.

"Um, well you don't like horror, so that rules out a lot of the things I like to watch" he began, chuckling to himself as I rolled my eyes. "What about that one? It's a zombie comedy film, could be pretty good?" he continued, pointing to a film called 'Eaten 2: Eaten Again'

"Sure" I shrugged, loading up the film before I placed the remote on my bedside table and got myself comfy on the bed. In doing so, I shuffled slightly closer to him to the point that now our shoulders were touching as we laid together. It wasn't long before he took the next big leap, moving so that he could rest his head on my chest and I found my hand automatically coming up and running itself through his hair, something he snuggled into. The two of us were in complete bliss as we laid and watched the movie together and we must have gotten about half an hour in before he spoke up again.

"You know, I always imagine stuff like this, but I never thought it would come true" he said, turning his head so that he was looking up at me. In response, I placed a small kiss onto my forehead, which causing him to smile as I replied.

"I was thinking the exact same thing you know. I can't believe how lucky I am to have you here right now"

That was enough for him to reach up, and place a kiss onto my lips, something that he did with a lot of power. I was taken back at first from it but was quick to catch up as I felt him moving around slightly. Before long, he was straddling my waist as we kissed each other, completely ignoring the film on the TV behind us, as his hands framed my face as if to help him deepen the kiss. In response, I began to trail my fingers across his body, tracing every single part of his torso through his shirt as I ran my fingers over his abs. He seemed to tense slightly at the touch, as he pulled out of the kiss and rested his forehead on mine. I frowned slightly, worried that I had done something wrong.

"Sorry, I didn't mean too. We don't have to do anything if you think we're moving too fast" I said, seeing a small smile grace his face as he placed a kiss onto my forehead.

"It's not that, it just startled me that's all" he replied, causing me to nod, as he framed my face again. With his lips hovering above mine he whispered. "I've wanted this to happen for about 6 months now. If anything, we're not moving fast enough" before plunging deep into the kiss once again as he moved his hands over my pecs.

I moaned at the action, before swiping my tongue across his lips, causing him to do the same. We both took the opportunity to thrust our tongues forward, our make out session becoming more heated as I began to run my hands over his body once again, this time not being shy about it. He seemed to repeat what I did to him, as he explored each other's chests, and before long I found that his shirt was impeding me from getting what I actually wanted.

He seemed to have the same though, tugging on the bottom of my top much like I was doing to him. We both seemed to smile into our kiss before he pulled away and began to take his top off. I was mesmerised as I watched him do so, remembering his toned body from Halloween, but before I became completely infatuated with it, I stripped my own off, the two of us now shirtless as he straddled me. I couldn't help myself, my hands rushing to his chest, to fully explore the definition of his chiselled abs, and he did a similar thing to me. I definitely wasn't as toned as he was, but I worked out when I could, so I was still in good shape.

"You're so fucking hot" I said, as we locked eyes, my hands running over his nipples, causing him to moan slightly at the touch.

"So are you" he replied, before the two of us returned to making out again, our bare chests rubbing against each other as we did so. His skin seemed so soft to the touch, and I couldn't help but run my hands over it again and again, as if I craved it. I was so infatuated with it that I barely noticed how his kisses had moved from my lips as they began to trail across my jaw and down my neck. I groaned at the feeling, finding my hips rolling as an impulse, rubbing our clothed erections together. That feeling of course caused me to groan further as I repeated the action, hearing how he was doing the same thing as he hovered over my neck. The feelings I was experiencing were intense, and it only amplified when I felt his lips attach to my neck, as he began to suck and nibble at the sensitive skin.

"Oh god" I moaned as he continued his action, my hands how finding this way to his perky ass, as I felt it up through the jeans he was wearing. He seemed to moan again at that action, the two of us now a pair of moaning, bumbling teenagers that were figuring everything out. With me squeezing his ass, and him having left a lot of love bites on my neck, he began to trail kisses down my chest, his hands now fondling with my belt and trousers. I got the message, lifting my hips slightly so that he could remove the trousers I was wearing. As he pulled them down, I did the same to him, removing his belt and pulling his own trousers down, so that we were both just in our pants, our tenting erections clear to each other, and boy did he look impressive.

Suddenly feeling a wave of dominance pass over me, I gripped onto his sides, and flipped the two of us over, so that he was now laid on the bed, staring up at me, his eyes wide as emotions swirled around them. With a mischievous smile on my face, I began to repeat what he did to me, feeling as he writhed under me as I kissed a trail right down his chest to his trim of his pants. As I placed a few kisses onto the borderline, I slowly began to pull his boxers down, placing kisses onto the newly revealed skin as I did so. He seemed to love the attention, writhing under me as he moaned out in pleasure, especially when his dick sprang free. His hardened cock stood strong from his body as I began to trail kisses around it, as if to only tease him more, and when I glanced up at him, I saw he was looking down with pleading eyes, as he gave me a small nod as if to give me consent.

In response to his action, I wrapped my hand around him and began to slowly stroke him, causing him to begin to buck up into my hand to only further his pleasure. I felt my own dick straining against my pants, so I decided to free it from its cage, allowing it to stand free, much like his was. Wrapping a hand around my own, I began to place more kisses around his cock, before becoming slightly more adventurous as I began to trail them up his cock until I reached its head. Without thinking too much about it, I found myself ghosting a breath over it, before taking him into my mouth.

It was definitely a new experience for me, and at first, I found myself struggling to find a rhythm. I swirled my tongue around his tip, as I began to slowly bob up and down, and as unsure of myself as I was, I could hear how much he was enjoying it. His hands found their way into my hair, as he began to gently guide me in what to do. The feeling of his fingers in my hair seemed to bring me alive even more, as I began to stroke myself faster and faster, which coincided with me bobbing up and down on him. With his guidance, I slowly began to find a rhythm, taking him deeper and deeper each time I bobbed down, finding that I was crazing his taste. I could feel how he began to tense under me, as well as how he began to tug on my hair slightly, causing me to pull off of him with an eyebrow raised.

"What's wrong?" I asked, feeling how he placed his hands around my face once again, and began to pull me closer.

"Nothing's wrong" he began, placing a kiss onto my lips before he continued. "I just didn't want to come just yet" he continued, as he grabbed my dick into his hand and began to stroke it. I groaned at the action, my face burying itself into the crook his neck, where he began to whisper into my ear again. "I want you to fuck me" he said, before nibbling at my earlobe as his strokes quicken slightly.

I moaned at the action once again, my head reeling back in pleasure before I remembered something, something that began to make me chuckle. Laughter seemed to take over my whole body, and I felt how he stopped stroking me, obviously questioning where this moment had come from. When I looked down at him, he had his eyebrow raised as well as a frown on his face, so I was quick to dip down, placing my hand under his chin as I pulled him into a kiss.

"What was so funny?" he asked, causing me to chuckle as I shook my head.

"It's just that I was so in the moment that I completely forgot. I don't have any condoms or anything" I replied, and I could see that caused a smile to form on his face as he began to chuckle as well.

"Well there goes my plan" he replied, causing the two of us to burst into laughter again, with me straddling his hips as his hand rested on my dick. It was a completely bizarre moment for the two of us, but that only seemed to make the laughter worse, as he snuggled his head into the crook of my neck. With the new position, I found myself whispering into his ear this time.

"I can still make you come another way" I said, biting at his earlobe this time, and once again placing the two of us back into the sensual mood we were engulfed in before. He moaned at the action, his hard dick rolling into my thigh before I found myself making my way back down to his cock as I took it into my mouth once again. He had no reservations this time, as I began to bob and swirl my tongue around him, and when his hands found their way into my hair again, I hummed around him, only furthering his pleasure.

"Fuck, I'm so close!" he groaned, bucking up so he pushed his dick further into my mouth and when I felt him tense up this time, I continued my onslaught, to the point where a moan racked its way through his body, feeling how he shuddered as he released into my mouth. I welcomed the sticky fluid as it strayed into my mouth, finding that I loved the taste of him as I continued to lap my tongue against his dick to try and collect it all.

When he stopped cumming, I pulled off with an audible pop, before travelling back up his body so that I could pull him into a kiss. He moaned into the action, his tongue swirling around my mouth as if to try and taste himself, which only caused me to harden in his grasp. The blond was quick to grab my dick once again, as he resumed stroking me, getting faster and faster each time he did so. He swallowed all of my moans, as he continued to spur me on, and when I fully hardened in his hand, I pulled out of the kiss, my head rolling back in pleasure, as I came. He seemed to welcome the spray of my seed onto his chest as he milked me for everything I had.

As soon as I was done, I found myself falling onto the bed beside him, and he was quick to rest his head onto my chest. I reached over to my bedside table, where I grabbed a packet of tissues so that I could clean him up a little bit, already feeling how he had become drowsy on my chest. Once I had cleaned him with a few tissues, and threw them into the bin, I quickly manoeuvred the two of us so that we were under my quilt.

With his head resting on my chest, as I reached my arms around him to spoon, the two of us were quickly consumed by the abyss of sleep, and it was safe to say that I was the most content that I had ever been.

* * *

 **So there we have it! Kames did a little deed, but James was unprepared for it, so they had to stop a little short. When writing this story, this thought always seemed to pop into my mind, so I knew that I just had to include it! We also had them talk about Katie for a little bit as well, so James sort of knows what to expect. Still, can anyone every really be ready for Katie?**

 **A massive thank you to Guest, Winterschild11 and RainbowDiamonds for reviewing the last chapter, and I'm so glad that you all enjoyed it! Kendall is such a sweet guy, and I loved writing him in this story because of that, like I think he's just so adorable! You also all seemed to comment on whether Dak will or won't forgive James, so you'll have to wait and see.**

 **I will see you all on Monday for the next chapter of Class Vs Character, but until then,**

 **TTFN 😃**

 **And yes, I do take pride in being evil. I feel like I should wear it as a badge of honour, considering how many times I've been called it 😜 Love you all ❤**


	16. Chapter 16: Meeting The Folks

**Hi Guys and Welcome back to Love, James! So, let's crack on with this shall we?**

* * *

I was awoken by the sound of a door closing as well as a few voices coming from downstairs, and that was enough to cause me to shoot up from my bed, and glance down at my alarm clock. _'Shit, it's eight o'clock already!'_ I thought to myself, before looking over at Kendall, who was just as awake as I was.

"Is that…?" he began but was quickly interrupted.

"James! We're home!" My mum shouted up the stairs, before I heard footsteps begin to make their way up the stair case. Kendall and I were quick to look at each other, before we jumped out of bed and fumbled with our clothes, trying to put them on as fast as we could. The footsteps were getting louder with every step she took, and I knew that she would head straight for my door when he got all the way up.

"Quick, my shirt!" I said to Kendall, noticing how it was closer to him that it was to me, and in one swift action he picked up the shirt and threw it to me. By the time my mum was knocking on the door, the two of us were both dressed, but there was very little I could do about my hair.

"James, you in here?" she asked, and I saw how the door handle tilted slightly. Knowing there was no stopping this, I reached for the door and opened it fully, exposing both me and Kendall to her. She was shocked by his presence at first but was quick to recover. "Oh sorry, I didn't know you had someone round." She said, flashing Kendall a small smile, something he was quick to return.

"Hi Mrs Diamond, I'm Kendall" he said, before walking toward to offer her a handshake. She seemed a bit taken back by his action but was quick to recover as she reached out to give him a hug instead.

"Hi Kendall, it's nice to meet you. And please, call me Brooke" she replied, squeezing him slightly before pulling out of the hug. "And…um… are…" she began to stutter, and I knew exactly what she was trying to ask. Instead of suffering through the torture of her trying to phrase the question, I reached my hand out towards Kendall. The blond looked down at it and blushed for a brief second before linking our fingers together.

"Kendall's my boyfriend" I said simply, and despite how hard she was trying, I could see the massive smile that was working its way onto her face.

"Well, it's certainly nice to meet you then. I'm guessing you're the reason James was so happy this morning. I mean, you should have seen him, singing and dancing about…"

"Mum" I whined, causing her to chuckle slightly as she stopped.

"Well anyway, your father is downstairs, and I'm sure he'd like to meet Kendall" she replied, causing me to nod before she walked out of the doorway and into her room. As soon as she did, I let out a massive sigh.

"I'm sorry about that, I should've set an alarm or something" I said to him, causing him to chuckle as he walked a little closer to me.

"Hey, it's not your fault, I fell asleep as well"

"I know, but no one should have to go through that without some preparation" I replied, causing him to chuckle as he placed a kiss onto my cheek.

"Trust me, it'll be worse when you meet Katie" he said, causing my face to pale slightly. "And we best say hi to your dad" he continued, tugging on my hand slightly. I just nodded as we made our way downstairs, still hand in hand, to find my dad rummaging through the fridge.

"I thought you went out for dinner?" I asked, causing him to jump slightly as he pulled his head out.

"We did, but that was at like 5 o'clock" he replied, before turning around to see Kendall stood there with me. "Oh, I didn't know someone was here"

"Hi Mr Diamond, I'm Kendall, James' boyfriend" he said, letting go of my hand so that he could reach out to shake my dad's hand. Again, my dad was slightly taken back by the gesture but was quick to recover, taking Kendall's hand into his own.

"Please, call me Richard" my dad replied, before looking at me with his eyebrow raised. I just blushed at the action, before my dad let go of Kendall's hand.

"So, have you too had anything to eat? I was gonna whip something up quickly if you want some?" my dad asked, causing me to nod.

"Yeah, that would be great thanks dad. Can you call us down when it's ready?" I asked, knowing that I was pushing my luck quite a bit.

"Um, actually I was thinking we could get to know Kendall a little while I cooked something" he replied, when I heard a mummer of agreement from behind us. Obviously, my mum had returned.

"Sure" was all I said, before leading Kendall over to the dining room table. As we walked, I whispered into his ear "I'm so sorry about this" causing him to chuckle.

"It's fine, it was going to happen eventually" he replied, causing me to roll my eyes slightly as we took a seat, my mum quickly following suit.

"So, Kendall, are you in the theatre with James?" My dad asked, causing Kendall to shake his head.

"No, I don't have an acting bone in my body" he replied, causing my parents to chuckle before he continued. "I play sports instead, so I'm on the basketball team"

"Oh, an athlete! I have to admit, we aren't really an athletic family" my dad replied, causing Kendall to chuckle.

"Trust me Mr Diamond, I know. I've seen James in PE" the blond replied, causing my mum and dad to burst into laughter, while I just sat there with a pout on my face. Kendall was quick to reach over and give my hand a squeeze to say how sorry he was, causing a small smile to grow on my face.

"And do you have any plans for the future?" my mum asked this time, causing Kendall to blush slightly. That caused my mum to chuckle slightly. "It's ok, you can tell us" she continued, reaching over the table to give Kendall a quick pat on the back to show her support.

"Well, if I'm being honest with you, I want to become a therapist." He began, and I saw how his face light up as he spoke. "I'm hoping that I can get a scholarship for a university out in Los Angeles, because they offer some of the best programmes" he replied, and I could see the devotion in my parent's eyes as they stared upon my boyfriend. Suddenly all of my worries seemed to dissolve, as I shuffled my chair closer to him, squeezing his hand.

"You'll be close to James then. He's hoping to study about Film and TV so that he can be a director, aren't you sweetie?" mum replied, causing me to nod as Kendall turned to me.

"You want to be a director? That's so cool!" he said, causing me to roll my eyes.

"And you'll be helping people" I replied, causing him to give me a small smile as he leaned in to give me a quick kiss on my cheek. That caused me to blush massively, while my parents just stared at us in admiration.

Conversation in that fashion continued throughout the whole of dinner, with my dad whipping a quick chicken risotto, and as we spoke, I found myself learning more and more about Kendall. Obviously, the emails that we shared were quite informative, but this helped me connect to him on a more personal level. It was just simple stuff, but it felt some important, and the more we all spoke, the more I found myself falling in love with him, and I think my parents were also doing the same.

The blond seemed to fit into our family dynamic perfectly, with him joining in when my parents began to ridicule me, as well as involving himself and sharing his opinion on some of the more serious topics we, for some reason, discussed. Everyone was engulfed in conversation, but when I glanced over at the clock, I was shocked to see what time it was. Kendall saw the look on my face, and when he glanced at the clock himself, he shared a similar reaction.

"God, it's ten o'clock already" I said, causing my parents to now take a look themselves. "

Yeah, I should probably make a move, and see if Katie is ok" Kendall added, before the two of us rose from our seats, my mum and dad quickly following suit. "It was nice to meet you Mr and Mrs Diamond" Kendall said, extending his hand out to my father once again, my dad quick to take it as he smiled at the blond.

"It was nice to see you as well! And please, call us Richard and Brooke" my dad replied, and when he retracted his hand, my mum was straight in there with a hug.

"Yeah, it was lovely to meet you Kendall. Please, come around anytime" she said, causing the blond to nod.

"Thank you" he said, my mum squeezing in the hug once again before letting him go.

"Oh, let me go get my car keys" I said, realising that I had left them upstairs, and as I ran off, I heard my parents voice drop slightly, so that it was barely above a whisper. Still, I was able to make out every word as my dad spoke first.

"This is the part where I have to be intimidating Kendall" he began, and I rolled my eyes as he continued. "It's just, we know that James has had a hard time at school these past couple of days, with these emails being leaked and I just want to make sure that you're not taking advantage of him or playing a trick on him because of that"

I was shocked to hear that my parents knew about the emails, considering that I hadn't told them, and I took in a deep breath as I waited for Kendall to reply.

"So, you know about the emails?" Kendall asked, and I presume in the silence that followed my father nodded. "Then…um…I was the one that he was emailing. We've been talking for about 6 months now, and I…um…well I love your son. I got to know him over the emails, without even knowing who he was, and I feel in love with him then. And I know it was wrong of me to stop emailing him over Christmas when he needed me the most, but I got scared because the person I loved suddenly had a name and a face" Kendall replied, and I could hear that he was beginning to ramble slightly, probably because he was slightly nervous. "Anyway, I just want you to know that I won't take advantage of him. I really do love him, and I just want him to be happy" the blond replied, and I let out that deep breath I was holding. After that, I was quick to go into my room and grab my keys before walking down the stairs.

"Ready?" I asked, seeing how Kendall was blushing slightly.

"Ready" he replied with a nod. "Thank you again for having me" he said to my parents before the two of us left the house and made our way to the car, a massive smile on my face.

* * *

When we were about five minutes into the drive, I finally decided that I should probably talk to him about it. Giving his hand a squeeze, I spoke up. "So, I heard my parents giving you the third degree. I'm sorry, I didn't think they were going to do that. I shouldn't have left you alone with them" I said, causing him to look over at me with a small smile.

"You're always trying to protect me aren't you" he said, placing a kiss onto my hand, as a blush crept onto my face. "And don't worry about it, they were just being good parents. My mum and sister are going to do the same to you. But I meant what I said, I love you and I just want you to be happy" he replied, causing my blush to deepen.

"Well, just being with you makes me very happy" I replied, causing him to blush this time, as he placed another kiss onto my hand. That's when normal conversation sparked up again.

"So, you want to be a director? I always thought you'd want to be an actor, especially with your talent in theatre" he said, causing me to blush and shrug at the same time.

"I mean, don't get me wrong, I'd love to be an actor but the chances of that happening are very slim." I joked, causing him to chuckle. "But… I don't know, I suppose I've always like that side of it a little bit more. I mean, I was lucky to get one of the main parts this year, but I'm also involved in finalising the costumes, making sure the sets are ok and that. It's just really fun!" I replied, causing him to chuckle.

"Damn, you're passionate about it aren't you" he stated, causing me to shrug.

"I suppose. But I also saw how you lit up when you started talking about being a therapist" I replied, causing him to blush.

"Touché" he said, causing me to nudge him slightly.

"That's all you've got to say?"

"It's just a little hard for me to talk about" he replied, causing me to flash him a small smile, as I gave his hand a squeeze to show my support.

"Then I won't push any further" I replied, the car settling into silence for a few moments after that. I could see from the corner of my eye he was mulling it over, but when I saw him take in a deep breath, I knew that he was going to talk. Not saying anything, I let him begin. "

It's just…ever since my dad died I've been going to a weekly session. I had a difficult time accepting that he was gone, so my mum thought it was best for me to talk it over with someone from an outside perspective" he began, as I gave his hand another squeeze for him to continue. "At first, I thought it was my fault, because he died around the time I'd just figured out that I was gay. I thought it was God's way of punishing me, and I held onto that for a very long time, even when I was attending therapy. About a year into the sessions, I finally told him about me being gay, and why I thought my dad had died, and he was so good at helping me through it. I still see him weekly and we just talk about everything and everyone. So, I guess I lied when I said that no one knew" he finished, and I could see the tears that had welled in his eyes as he spoke.

I quickly checked my side mirror, and when I saw that no cars were following, I pulled over. He glanced at me with a raised eyebrow, before I unclipped my seatbelt and shuffled closer so that I could pull him into a hug. He was quick to reciprocate it, wrapping his arms around my body as he snuggled his head into the crook of my neck.

"Thank you for telling me" I whispered into his ear, feeling as a few tears dropped onto my shoulder. "You are so strong Kendall, I don't think I could have gone through what you did and come out such a brave, joyful person. I love you so much" I continued, and I could feel him nod into my shoulder.

"I love you too" he mumbled, causing me to squeeze him a little tighter in the hug. We must have sat there for another couple of minutes before we finally got onto the road again and made our way back to Kendall's house. The rest of the journey was filled with a comfortable silence as we both reflected on what had been said, and I realise with every passing second that I was falling deeper and deeper in love with the person next to me.

And I really didn't want it to stop.

* * *

When we arrived at Kendall's house, I really thought that it would just be a simple exchange. The two of us kissed before we said our goodbyes, with me promising to pick him up again in the morning, and that was all I expected. As the blond got out of the car, I waited as he made his way up the drive as I wanted to be sure that he got into his house alright.

However, when Kendall unlocked the door, he was greeted with his little sister, and instead of saying a word to him, she barged right past him before making her way down the drive. The whole time, I could feel her eyes burning into me through her intense stare and a lot of the time I struggled to maintain eye contact with her. That all changed however, when she flung the car door open, with no care in the world, and sat herself into the passenger side seat.I saw how Kendall began to run down the driveway, but before he could even reach the car, the door was shut and when she reached to lock the whole car from the central console, I knew I was in for it. The blond was quick to try the door handle when he finally reached the car, and upon realising it was futile, he resulted to a different tactic

"Katie, get out come on!" he shouted, banging on the window as he did so, but his sister did not seem fazed by it, her eyes locked on me the whole time. My eyes kept flicking between Kendall, who seemed genuinely horrified and his sister, who did not look happy. It only got worse when she opened her mouth.

"What are your intentions with my brother?" she asked, her voice stern and commanding, causing me to swallow the lump that had formed in my throat.

"Excuse…me?" I stuttered out, causing her to raise an eyebrow at me, the death stare still continuing.

"You heard me. What are your intentions with my brother?" she asked again, talking slightly slower this time as if to emphasis the point.

"I…um…I want him to feel loved and be happy?" I replied, but she didn't look very convinced. "Really, I love Kendall and just want what is best for him. I'll do whatever I can to ensure that" I continued, causing her to shrug.

"Well, I would hope that you would retain some sort of dignity" she commented, causing me to frown as she asked her next question. "And will you always be bringing him home this late on a school night?"

By the point, I could see Kendall was just banging his head against the window, hoping that it would end soon, but that didn't distract his little sister at all. I swallowed once again before answering her question.

"Um…no I won't. It's just that I was introducing Kendall to my parents" I replied, causing her eyebrow to dip slightly.

"I suppose that is acceptable" she replied, before raking her eyes across my body. Her glare made me feel massively self-conscious, almost it was piercing right into my inner being, and I let out a sigh of relief when it was over. "Fine, you'll be on a two month trial period to see if you're acceptable" she began, before her glare intensified massively with her even leaning over the console slightly so that she was right in my face. "But I swear, if you hurt my brother in any way, I will hunt you down, and cut your dick and both your balls off" she growled, causing me to lean back slightly as I nodded with fear.

"KATIE, FOR GOD SAKES GET OUT!" Kendall shouted once again, slamming down on my car room to make a loud sound echo through the car. Her once intimidating sneer turned into a sweet, horrifying smile before she reached over and unlocked the car once again. Kendall was quick to yank the door open, and I could see he was resisting all of his urges to drag her out, as he let her slowly make her way out of the car. Once she was out of the vehicle, Kendall was quick to jump back in, shutting the door behind him as he spoke.

"I'm sorry James, I really didn't think she'd do that. Well, I knew she'd interrogate you, but I didn't think she'd do it in your car." He began, causing me to chuckle slightly, even though I was still shit scared.

"It's fine, she's just being a good sister, and you did warn me about it, although I didn't think it would be that…scary" I replied, causing him to nod.

"Yeah, she's intense" he replied, before leaning over to capture my lips in another kiss, one that distracted me from his horrifying sister. When we pulled out, we rested our chins on each other's shoulder as we hugged. "So, tonight was great" he said, and I could tell he was blushing from how his face heated up slightly.

"It was" I replied, before getting a little bit closer to his ear. "And trust me, next time, I'll be ready for anything" I nibbled on his earlobe when I finished, and I could feel how he shuddered in my arms.

"I'm looking forward to it" he whispered back, before we finally separated. As we did, I noticed how he had to readjust his pants slightly before he got out of the car, causing a small smirk to grow on my face.

Repeating what I did early, I waited for him to get into the house so that I knew he was safe before I drove off.

* * *

When I got home that night, I was greeted with both my parents sat on the sofa, and as soon as they heard the door open, I could feel their eyes on me. I knew exactly what was coming, causing me to internally groan as I walked into the living room, taking a seat on the other sofa, with them constantly watching me the whole time. It was my dad who spoke up first.

"So, Kendall seemed like a nice lad, and he really seems to love you"

"Yeah, I…um…I love him as well" I replied, becoming slightly embarrassed by the fact that I was discussing this with my parents.

"And he said that he was the one you were secretly emailing?" my mum took over, causing me to nod.

"How'd you know about those?" I asked, causing them both to shrug.

"The school contacted us when you got back yesterday. They said something about an altercation in the cafeteria and wanted us to know" Dad replied, causing me to nod.

"So, um, we just want you to know that if you need anything, we can get it for you" Mum continued, causing me to shudder slightly in my seat.

"Mum really?" I whined, getting really embarrassed at what she was implying.

"What? We know that we can't stop the two of you from…um" my Dad began, clearing his throat so that he could avoid using the word. "But we want you to be safe when you do it James"

"Really?" I whined again, but it was ignored.

"So, if you're embarrassed about getting condoms and lube, then we'll buy it for you. But we need to establish some ground rules ok?"

By this point, I was slowly sliding down the sofa, my face completely red as they continued to speak.

"One, please don't do it while we are in the house"

"Guys!"

"What? Your Dad and I don't want to listen to the two of you going for it"

"Two, we just want some prior warning when he's round. Maybe just a text or something so we know" Dad stated, causing me to nod.

"This is seriously devastating to discuss this with you" I commented, causing them both to chuckle.

"Come on James, we're no strangers to it. I mean how do you think you-"

"Lalalalalalalalalalalala" I said, plugging my ears with my fingers so that I didn't have to hear the end of that sentence. When I saw my dad's mouth had stopped moving, I finally pulled my fingers out.

"Anyway, we just want to say that we do really like Kendall. He seems like a nice kid, and we could see how happy you made each other" Mum said, causing me to blush a little more.

"Thank you" I replied, as I pulled myself off of the sofa and made my way over to them. I pulled them both into a hug, because as embarrassing as they were, they were only showing that they cared.

"Anytime champ" my dad replied, taking the opportunity to ruffle my hair again.

When the hug finished, I headed up to my room, and the first thing I did was text Kendall.

 _Me: So I just got the talk from my parents_

 _Kendall: Ouch! I bet that wasn't fun_

 _Me: It wasn't. Still, they said that they approve of my choice 😜_

 _Kendall: Well, I will say that it was a good choice. And you'll be pleased to hear that Katie approves of you as well. She can't stop talking about you._

 _Me: That's good to hear then. I don't need to worry about my dick and balls being chopped off_

 _Kendall: Thank god, because we haven't got the proper use out of those yet_

That text caused me to choke slightly, and as you can imagine the rest off the evening was filled with us sending dirty, yet hilarious texts to each other. Neither of us seemed to get the concept down completely, so we both just ended up laughing at each other's texts, as well as how ridiculous they sounded.

When he said our goodnight's, I couldn't help but think how lucky I truly was to have fallen in love with someone like Kendall, and to know the feeling were reciprocated.

* * *

 **So there we have it! Kendall met James parent's, who of course love him, and we also had a chat between James and Katie, and we all know what Katie is like!**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Guest, Winterschild11, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter, and I'm so glad to hear that you all enjoyed it! Everyone seemed to agree that you would be intimidated by Katie, and that definitely shows in this chapter! To answer RainbowDiamonds question, the Eaten 2 thing was something that I saw in a video game, and I thought it was just too good, so I had to include it! Also, you seem to know me so well, as maybe the basket thing was a personal anecdote 😜 And to Guest, if only I were as evil as Katie! 😈**

 **I will see you guys on Monday for the next chapter of Class Vs Character, where the fate of Kendall is finally revealed... but until then,**

 **TTFN 😃**


	17. Chapter 17: Reconciliation

**Hi guys and welcome back to Love, James! Right, I don't have a lot to say, so let's crack on shall we?**

* * *

"So, you got the talk last night?" was the first time Kendall said as he stepped into the car, causing me to blush.

"Yeah. In all fairness, they were really nice about it, it was just super…"

"Embarrassing."

"Yeah" I chuckled, before reaching over and giving him a kiss. When that was done, the two of us set off to school, as conversation flowed freely.

"Well, like I said, Katie seemed to approve. She couldn't stop talking about you, and how you looked. If anything, I think she's beginning to wonder if I'm good enough for you"

"Well, she does have a point" I joked back, causing him to playfully punch me in the arm. "I mean, of course you're good enough for me. I just hope I'm good enough for you" I continued, fluttering my eyelashes as if to show how sincere I was.

"That's better" he replied, linking our fingers together once again.

Like usual, the two of us talked about anything and everything the whole way to school, and when we arrived, we made our way into the cafeteria, knowing he had about half an hour to kill before lessons started. This time, the table was only populated with Camille, Jett and Logan, so Kendall took the chance as he tugged on my hand so that I would followed. The three of them looked up when we approached, them all flashing us a smile with helped calm my nerves slightly, but they were still running rather high, mostly because I didn't know what Logan and Jett actually knew about the whole situation and what their take on it was. As the two of us got close, I heard that all their conversation ceased, causing me to take a deep breath as we sat down.

"Hey guys" Camille said with a chipper tone, causing me to smile at her.

"You alright?" I replied, causing them all to nod.

"Yeah, we were just chatting about how everything is starting up again today." Jett said, causing Kendall's eyes to widen

"Oh shit, yeah, we've got basketball practise after school" he said, causing Jett to chuckle at him.

"Leave it to you to forget about it. Don't tell me you left your kit at home?" Jett replied, patting his back as he did so.

"I didn't take it home before Christmas" Kendall replied, blushing as he said it, causing everyone to look at him with slightly disgust. "What? I only wore it once after it was washed before Christmas break, so it should be fine" he defended, Jett grinning at him, while Camille just shook her head, before turning to me.

"That also means that we have rehearsals tonight. You off book?" she asked, causing me to nod.

"Yeah, I memorised all the lines over Christmas. Plus, I know all the songs off my heart" I boasted proudly, causing Camille to roll her eyes slightly as she grinned.

"Of course, you do" she commented, causing everyone to chuckle.

"And I've got AMC preparation, not that anyone asked" Logan quipped, causing everyone to chuckle with him before conversation dissolved into normal chatter. I glanced around the cafeteria a couple of times, to see if Dak and Lucy were anywhere in sight, and on my second check, I saw the two of them walking in. They immediately made eye contact with me, and I was quick to flash them both a small smile. Their facial expressions remained unreadable, but I could see that Dak's eyes where filled with emotion, not that I could pick any out.

When Lucy leaned over and whispered into his ear, I knew that it was too late, the two of them turning around and walking back out again. I frowned at the sight, until I felt Kendall join our hands under the table. As I looked over to him, he flashed me a small smile that helped slightly, but it still didn't stop the guilt I was feeling. Luckily, I was saved from deep thought by the bell going.

"We have Physics right James?" Logan asked, causing me to nod.

"Yeah" was all I replied with, flashing him a small smile, before pecking Kendall on the cheek as a goodbye. The blond seemed to blush at the action, causing me to chuckle as we went our separate ways.

* * *

"Ok, so I have to ask. What did go on with you over the Christmas Break?" Logan said, once the teacher set us our tasks for the rest of the lesson. Luckily the two of us were back in the back corner, so I didn't need to worry too much about many people over hearing.

"It's a long story" I began, causing him to chuckle, before I began to tell him the whole story. I felt like a broken record with the amount of times that I had repeated myself by telling this story, but I felt like it was only fair to let him know. After all, he would have noticed the awkwardness in the whole group for the months following Halloween, as well as the fact that I wasn't invited to the New Years Party. As I told the story, Logan seemed to stay quiet, allowing me to say everything that I needed without any prerequisite judgement from him. Well, there was probably a lot of judgement, but he didn't air any of it as I spoke. "So, that's why everything has been so…"

"Awkward?" he replied, causing me to nod.

"Yeah"

"Well, first I want to say that Beau is just a massive dick" he began, causing me to let out a soft chuckle. "I mean, I've never really liked the guy anyway, always been a bolshie but that was such a dick move" He continued, taking a deep breath before he spoke next. That caused me to raise an eyebrow at him, and I could see he reddened slightly as he spoke next. "I think it's fair to say that what you did wasn't much better" That caused my eyes to widen, but he was quick to justify. "What I mean is that what you did was pretty dickish as well, but I can see why you did it, and I think that I probably would have done the same thing in that situation. I suppose it's one of those things where you don't really know what you would do until you were in it"

"Well, thank you for being honest with me" I replied, rolling my eyes as a joke, which caused him to chuckle. "So, we cool?"

"Yeah, we cool" he replied, causing a massive grin to settle onto my face. For the next half an hour or so, the two of focused on our work, with conversation being fairly limited. As I moved onto the next double page of the text book, I saw Logan shuffle in his seat slightly, almost nervously, as he spoke up. "So, how'd you know that you were…you know…gay" he asked, causing me to let out another soft chuckle.

"I suppose it was lots of things really. Growing up, I was never really interested in looking at girls, and I always seemed to get a little embarrassed in the changing rooms. That and when I jack off…"

"OK, ok, I get it!" he interrupted, causing me to chuckle slightly.

"What? You wanted to know" I replied, with a nudge, hoping it would gain a smile out of him. Instead, the small brunet seemed to go a little deeper into thought. I knew that I was about to tread down a treacherous road, so taking a deep breath, I began. "Logan, are you?"

"What? No, of course not…well I mean I…I don't know" he stuttered out, rubbing his hands over his face as he spoke. "It's like…I like girls and I'm attracted to them, but I can't seem to get the thought of guys out of my head"

"You could be bi? I mean, I don't know how that really works, but maybe you're like 75% attracted to girls, and 25% attracted to guys?" I replied, causing him to raise an eyebrow at me.

"Is that a thing?"

"What? Bi? Of course, that's a thing"

"No, I mean about the 75, 25% thing" he said, causing me to shrug.

"I really don't know dude, I'm probably not the best person to ask. Have you asked the internet?" I replied, causing him to shrug.

"I…no. It's just, it's just a new thing so I'm a little unsure of it" he responded, causing me to nod.

"Well, maybe give it a google and see what it says. I mean, you can't always trust what they say but there are some useful chat rooms out there. Plus, if you do ever want to talk about it, I'm always here. I might not be able to provide you with the best answers, but I can be like a vault, keeping all of your secrets" I replied, and that got a chuckle out of him.

"Thanks James, it's nice to know that I have someone to talk too" he replied, flashing me a smile.

That seemed to cause a swell of pride to stir in my stomach, and I couldn't help the grin that formed on my face, knowing that I had just helped someone out, no matter how limited it actually was.

* * *

"Annie! Are you okay?"

"Get away from me! You don't care about me. I was just an opportunity to you."

"That's not true."

"It is true! You did all this to me just, so you could be stupid mayor."

"No, honey. You gotta trust me."

"I can't trust you. I can't trust anybody. Just leave me alone!"

"I'm so sorry this happened to you. I can't look you in the eye and say I had nothing to do with this. But I swear to you, I did not know those weren't you real parents. You gotta believe me. I thought that working hard was all that mattered; it's what my parents did. But you made me realize it all means nothing if you don't have someone you can count on your hand. This is you, Annie. This is you. I officially withdraw from the mayoral election. The city needs a better person than me as its leader, I need to focus on what matters most. And that's an amazing little girl named Annie, my family."

"Nice work guys, that was great!" Miss Wainwright shouted, finally signalling that the scene was over. "Right, so we'll call it here for today, and we'll pick up where we left off tomorrow. You did really well for your first day back, so well done guys!" she continued, causing everyone to nod and smile at her before walking away.

"Damn, you really did memorise all your lines!" Camille said to me, causing me to nod as I stood up straight and puffed my chest out a little bit.

"What can I say? I'm just that good"

"Jerk" she replied, pushing me slightly, causing me to chuckle as we walked over to where our bags were.

"Oh, hey Carlos, have a nice Christmas?" I asked, causing the Latino to shrug, his body language completely deject of any emotion.

"Yeah, it was alright" he replied, causing me to raise an eyebrow at him.

"Oh ok" I replied, glancing over at Camille slightly. When she replied with a shrug, I was completely baffled.

"Well, I best be off" she said, giving me a small wave before leaving Carlos and I alone. The Latino didn't seem very happy about that, considering the sigh that he let out, so I knew he wasn't ok.

"What's wrong buddy, you seem a little down." I asked, causing him to turn to me on his heels.

"It's nothing James, don't worry about it" he said, his tone sharp which seemed to cut me down to the bone slightly.

"Are you sure dude, because you're being kind of rude" I replied, and I saw how he rubbed his hand over his face while he let out a sigh and moved to one of the seats in the audience.

"Sorry, it's just that…well" he began to stutter, as I moved to the seat next to him. "I may have had a small crush on you before Christmas" he finally said, causing my eyes to go wide with shock.

"Oh"

"Yeah, and I thought that you had a crush on me as well, because you were being so nice to me. I mean, you offered to run lines with me when I was struggling, and you let me sit with you at the football games, and I don't know, I just thought that you know" he continued, causing me to nod along. Suddenly everything had started to slot into place, with him inviting me to go to his house on Halloween, and him getting me a Christmas Card, and I instantly felt bad. "But then the emails were leaked, and I found out it wasn't true, so I guess I'm just on the defensive a little bit. I'm sorry" he said again, as he looked over at me. I'm sure that our facial expressions were matching at that moment, as we both had a look of sorrow on them.

"No, I'm sorry dude, I didn't realise and now I feel like I was leading you on. Seriously, dude I didn't mean too" I replied, causing him to flash me a small smile.

"It's ok. Besides, I had all of Christmas to get over you" he joked, but it only made me feel worse about the whole situation. The two of us seemed to settle into a silence after that, as I reflected on what he had said and how blind I had been, but before long, I decided to start up conversation again.

"So, you're gay?" I asked, causing him to let out a little chuckle.

"Yes, I am. I…um…I actually came out to my parents over the Christmas Break, and I think it was because of what happened to you. It was almost like I wasn't alone any more, with you and Comit, or Kendall, also being gay and I just got a spur of confidence."

"How'd they take it?" I asked, a smile now gracing both our faces.

"Really well actually. They were a little shock at first, but other than that, they were fine with it."

"That's the same here actually" I replied, causing him to smile back at me once again before glancing down at his watch.

"Well, I better go. I have to get my brother from after school club and get home"

"See you tomorrow. And I'm sorry once again" I replied, flashing him another smile as he left. I was quick to follow suit after that, and as I looked at the time myself, I realised that if I rushed a little, I would be able to watch the last few minutes of basketball practise.

With a smile on my face, I began to make my way to the school's sport hall.

* * *

When I arrived at the sports hall however, I noticed how there were only two people currently occupying the court and as I got closer, I realised who it was; Kendall and Beau. Continuing my approach, I started to hear more and more of their conversation. Well, it was more of an argument.

"Seriously dude, what you did was pretty fucked up"

"So, that still doesn't excuse it"

"I'm not saying that James did it, but if he did, then you definitely deserved it. I mean, who in their right mind blackmails someone so that they can get with a girl."

"Oh, I didn't realise that you were a social justice warrior Kendall"

"Oh fuck off dude, I'm not being a social justice warrior, I'm being a decent human being!" Kendall snapped back, but before Beau could respond, he looked over at me and we locked eyes. The pure anger that was swirling within them was enough for me to want to flinch, but I was able to remain strong. When he began to stride towards me a little bit, that's when I let a little bit of my fear out as I took a step back.

"You're such a fucking asshole Diamond, I can't believe you told my brother about what I did!" he snapped, as he pressed an accusatory finger against my chest. Kendall was quickly by my side as I replied.

"What the hell are you talking about? I don't even know who your brother is, let alone tell him about how much of a dick you are" I retorted, and I heard him let out a low growl.

"Don't fucking lie to me Diamond, I know it was you. I mean, you told me all that shit the other day in the car park about my brother, but as soon as he finds out, it wasn't you who did it!"

"Dude, I swear to you, I didn't tell your brother" I replied, causing him to back off ever so slightly. "But I will admit, I really wish I had done now!" I heard Kendall let out a sigh next to me, as Beau stepped forward once again. This time, I definitely didn't back down.

"Say that again"

"I said, I wished I was the one who told your brother, and I'm not sorry for whatever you are going through, you fully deserve it. I meant what I said the other day." I saw his hands ball into fists, and for some reason, I couldn't help the smirk that grew on my face. "Now I suggest that you fuck off, and never bother Kendall or me ever an again."

"And why the fuck would I do that Diamond?"

"Because I hold all the power now. The school still doesn't know who sent those emails, but I bet they would love to find out. Even better, I bet that colleges would love to see a permanent mark on your record for homophobia." I stated once again, and it only seemed to piss him off more, but I couldn't stop grinning, because I finally had one over on him.

"I would do as he says Beau. Besides, he would totally kick your ass in a fight" I heard a familiar voice speak up, one that caused Beau to release the fists that he had made.

"Fuck you James" he said once again, before turning around and skulking away, his head low in defeat. When he was out of the way, I turned my attention to the voice, Dak stood there with a sad smile on his face.

"Thanks for that" I said to him, causing him to shrug.

"I hardly did anything" he replied, the air between us becoming slightly awkward

"I'm gonna go get changed" Kendall said, before walking up to me and giving me a kiss on the cheek. That was a disguise however, as he actually whispered into my ear "Just tell him the truth" before leaving the two of us. At first, we sort of just stared at each other, both shuffling awkwardly as we waited for the other to speak. When it didn't come however, I took a deep breath, knowing that I had to speak first.

"I'm sorry Dak, I really am" I began, my eyes glancing down at the floor and back to him. "I didn't want to lie to you, it's just that Beau was blackmailing me, and I really didn't want my secret to get out" I began, but when I saw him open his mouth to talk, I got so scared that I just started to ramble again. "And I know that that has nothing to do with you, and I know that I shouldn't have brought you into it, but it's just that Beau said that if I didn't help him get with Lucy, then he'd out me and Kendall, well I didn't know it was Kendall but still. Anyway, and then you called and said that you liked Lucy and I was selfish when I told you that she had a boyfriend. I really am sorry Dak." I continued, my eyes constantly flicking between the floor and him. When I saw that he went to open his mouth again, I panicked knowing that I had nothing else to say. Instead I awaited the onslaught.

"It's ok, I forgive you" he said instead, causing me to look at him with shock written all over his face, something that he chuckled at.

"What? Seriously?" I asked, causing him to nod, as he walked up to me.

"Yeah, seriously." He replied, throwing his arms around my shoulder. "I will admit that I was a little bit pissed over the Christmas break because you didn't tell me you were gay" he began, causing me to raise an eyebrow at him. "What I meant is that, well, I felt like I was betrayed again. I mean, I thought we told each other everything and then I find out that you've kept this secret from me for years. I was hurt" When he saw me go to open my mouth to reply, it was his time to cut me off this time. "But today during practise, Kendall and I got talking about it, and he helped me realise what it was like for you, and how I have no right to be mad at you for hiding that from me. If anything, you should be mad at me for not understanding sooner and not being supportive when you needed me. I mean, it's such a big thing that you had to try and hide, and then for you to be forced out when you weren't ready. I'm sorry man" he finished, pulling me into a hug, one that I was quick to return.

"It's ok" I replied with, squeezing him a little bit to show that. "So, we're cool?"

"Yeah, we're cool dude" he replied, causing me to flash him a smile.

"Good, because I was really missing my best friend"

"Me too dude, me too"

* * *

 **So there we have it! As the title suggests, there was reconciliation with quite a few people this chapter, and we even had Logan and Carlos both come out! I wonder where that will go? Also, Beau is still a dick as always, but James finally has the upper hand over him now!**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Winterschild11, Guest, EpicallyObsessed and RainbowDiamonds for reviewing the last chapter, and Katie is definitely terrifying! I had so much fun writing that, so I'm so glad you liked it! You also seemed to love the talk with James' parents, which again I had so much fun writing, mostly because we all know how awkward those talks are, so it's easy to imagine what he's feeling in that situation!**

 **I will see you all on Monday for the next chapter of Class Vs Character, which I'm not going to lie to you, is the last one I actually have written so I should probably get on that. But until then,**

 **TTFN 😃**


	18. Chapter 18: Second Date

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Love, James! So, as you can tell from the chapter title, this is Kames' second date, so let's crack on shall we?**

* * *

The rest of the week, Thursday and Friday, seemed to go really well. Kendall and I had started to sit with our group of friends again, which was nice as it was almost a return to normality, well expect from the massive rift that now existed between me and Lucy. She still wouldn't listen to me, so it made it difficult for me to apologise to her. Still, at least we were all sat together once again and that was nice.

Conversation returned to its normal topics, with Dak and Jett ridiculing Kendall a little for his inability to play basketball, and as much as I wanted too, I really couldn't defend him, which caused everyone to chuckle. Like I said, everything had returned to almost normality. Logan and I had a few more talks about his confused state, with me trying to provide as much advice as I could to him and I even suggested counselling as an option, as it might help him figure some stuff out.

He didn't seem too open to the idea but didn't completely shun it when I suggested it. Carlos and I also didn't seem to have any issues for the rest of the week, now that the air was cleared between us, and I have to admit, it was nice to talk about this stuff with someone other than Kendall. Carlos seemed to have a funny insight into it all, which was refreshing.

* * *

And that brings us to now, midday Saturday, where I am currently sat on my couch waiting for Kendall to arrive. Yesterday, we had decided that the two of us should go on another date, and he was quick to tell me that he wanted to organise it all, which I thought was really sweet. Still, I couldn't help but be a little nervous, especially when he told me that he would be driving. I mean, it's not that I have an issue with other people driving, but it's more that I've never seen Kendall drive before and while I'm sure he is a safe, capable driver, there was just that little part of me that liked to me in control.

"Relax, you'll be fine!" My mum said as she walked into the living room with a cup of coffee in her hand.

"I know, but I'm still a little nervous" I replied, causing her to smile down at me.

"Ah, young love, it's so adorable" my dad said, coming into the living room himself, before ruffling my hair slightly. This time, as soon as he was finished, I was quick to shoot up and walk over to the mirror. "Relax, I didn't mess it up that much!" he shouted, causing me to roll my eyes as I fixed a few strands before I made my way back into the living room. "And you're wearing your glasses today?"

"Yeah, I'm having an issue with my new contacts. Plus, Kendall said that I suit them back at Halloween" I replied, causing my dad to shake his head at me with a smile on his face, before we heard beeping coming from outside. I shot up from the sofa once again, as my parents spoke.

"Let us know what time you are coming home tonight, if you are coming home that is" my mum said, causing me to blush as I headed to the door.

"And just…stay safe ok?" my dad added, causing me to nod.

"I will do" I replied, blowing them both a kiss before I shut the door.

* * *

Taking another deep breath, I turned around to see Kendall smiling at me from the driver's side, and I couldn't help but blush a little bit as he did when I made my way into the car. "Morning. You look really good and I love your glasses" he said, causing me to smile as we leaned over to give each other a kiss.

"Thanks, and you look really good as well" I replied, my eyes glancing over his outfit. He was wearing a pair of black skinny jeans that seemed to emphasis all the right places, so I couldn't wait to see what his ass looked like in them. He was also wearing a white t-shirt, which seemed to hug his toned frame with a green and black flannel shirt over the top of it. As my eyes ran across his body, I could see him blush massively, so as much as I didn't want too, I tore my eyes away, causing him to push the car into drive, before reaching out to grab my hand.

With my left hand, I took his, but with my right hand, I subtly grabbed onto the handle, allowing me to rest my arm on the door. It was one of the nervous ticks I had when someone else was driving, and I was hoping that he wouldn't really notice. Seamlessly, the blond pulled the car off of the curb and onto the road, calming my nerves slightly.

"So, where are we going?" I asked, with him shrugging as a response.

"It's a surprise" he replied, flashing me a cheeky smile as he did so.

"Oh god, you're not going to murder me, are you?" I teased, causing him to chuckle.

"Damn, I hate that you know me so well!" he joked, as we pulled up to a stop sign. Looking both ways and seeing that there was nothing there, the blond turned the corner before raising an eyebrow at me. "So, I have to ask. What's with the death grip on my door handle?"

"Sorry" I replied, letting it go ever so slightly. "It's just a habit of mine. Let's just say that my dad is kind of a…confident driver so it makes me feel a little bit safer when I'm in the car with him"

"It's fine. Plus, I can imagine it comes in handy when Dak drives"

"You have no idea"

"Well, don't worry. I may not drive very often, but I know what I'm doing, and I don't do anything crazy" he teased, causing me to squeeze his hand as he chuckled.

"Thanks" I replied with a smile, before conservation returned to normal. We spoke about his car, with me complimenting it and saying how nice it is. It was newer than mine, but still a few years old and had some fancy tech on it. By that, I meant that you could connect your phone to the car via Bluetooth instead of doing what I had to do, which was either listen to the radio, or play my music through my phone speaker.

At the moment, we were listening to his personal Spotify playlist, something that I was really getting into, and what was really nice was that every now and again, a Shawn Mendes song would come on, causing me to chuckle as he glanced over at me.

I will admit that a few times, I couldn't help but sing along, causing him to just shake his head and roll his eyes at me.

* * *

It was about 15 minutes later when the two of us finally arrived at our destination, and I couldn't help the smile that grew on my face.

"Will this do?" he teased when he saw my smile, causing me to reach over and place a kiss onto his cheek.

"This will do perfectly, because it gives me a chance to kick your ass!" I retorted, before getting out of the car.

He was quick to follow with a comeback. "Please, I am the king of bowling! Just wait until you see my mad skills!"

"I think the phrase 'mad skills' is proof enough of your ability" I remarked sarcastically with a chuckle, causing him to nudge into me as he took my hand.

"Just come on" he replied as he shook his head, causing me to cheekily grin at him as we walked into the building. The bowling alley itself was quite small in comparison to the rest of the building, with over half of it being dedicated to an arcade and I knew that once we were done with bowling, we'd be moving over to there.

"Hi, welcome to High Bowlers, how many games would you like to play?" the man asked, causing me to glance over at Kendall.

"Three games please" Kendall replied with a smile, causing the man to nod as he presented Kendall with the total. After Kendall handed over the cash, we were directed to lane 5, where I could already see the competitiveness coming onto Kendall's face. "Nicknames?" Kendall asked, causing me to grin.

"Why not go old school, Comit" I replied, causing him to smile back at me.

"Oh, it's on. And guess what? You've already Lost" he quipped, with me not being able to contain my smile as I shook my head.

"That was real bad dude"

"Almost as bad as your bowling skill?" he retorted, causing me to grin at him.

"Oh, that's it!" I stated, before walking up and grabbing the right bowling ball. As soon as I did, I glanced back at him, and gave him a quick wink before lining up and taking the shot. The ball started by staying on a steady course right into the middle, but near the end, it began to veer to the left slightly, knocking down 6 of the pins. I was quick to grab the next ball, and roll it down the aisle, knocking down the remainder of them, and when I turned back to him, I could see he had his eyebrow raised.

"Not bad, but now watch a professional play" he stated before heading up himself and grabbing a ball. As he lined up his shot, I couldn't help but stare at his ass slightly, and I was right in the car, his jeans were doing wonders for it. I was snapped out of my stare when I heard the loud bang of all the pins falling, and when I looked up to his face, I could see he was blushing slightly.

"Nice" was all I said, causing him to shake his head as he walked back over to his seat. As we continued to take turns, I couldn't help but notice how good Kendall actually was at the game. He always seemed to get most of the pins down on every shot, and unlike me, he never got the ball into the gutter. On our third game, I had to question him on it. "So, how are you so good then? It seems like you've had a lot of practise"

"My mum used to come every week with some of her work friends. She was a part of a team and everything, and I used to tag along sometimes. When I did, the alley was nice enough to let me have a lane so that I could play while they practised and after a while I just got good" he shrugged, causing me to chuckle as he reached for his ball. This time, I decided to get up behind him with our bodies flush with each other's. My arm was on top of his, with my chin resting on his shoulder as I began to whisper into his ear.

"So, maybe you could teach me?" I asked, and I could see the blush that spread onto his face.

"Tease" he whispered back, causing me to chuckle.

"It's only a tease if I don't plan to follow through with it. And trust me, I plan to follow this right the way through" I replied, shuffling slightly so that my dick was rubbing against his ass ever so subtly. That caused him to shudder in my arms slightly, and the blush that was coming off of him was so intense, so I found it so adorable. Within seconds of that happening, I moved away from him and walked back over to my seat. "Good luck" was all I said, causing him to swallow the lump in his throat as he went to bowl the ball. This time however, the spherical object when straight into the gutter, causing him to turn to me with a slight pout on his face.

"No fair, you distracted me!" he almost whined, but I just found it so cute that I couldn't help but smile at him.

"I had to even the playing field somehow" I commented, causing his pout to grow a little. I was quick to go over to him and place a chaste kiss onto his lips, causing his blush to grown future. "Now come on, you've got this" I cheered, causing him to shake his head as he turned back around.

"Jackass" I heard him mutter under his breath, causing me to chuckle in response as he bowled the ball. Like usual, this time it went straight down the middle of the aisle, knocking down all of the pins in one go.

"See, I knew you had this!" I cheered as I stood up, causing him to shake his head once again.

"Oh, we're just getting started! And remember, you were the one who wanted to play dirty" he replied, causing me to flash him a flirtatious grin.

"I like it when you get dirty" I flirted, causing him to just chuckle and shake his head. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from him, and if anything, that put me more on edge. So, taking a deep breath, I grabbed the ball before making my way up to the aisle, where I was almost sceptical to make my move. I glanced back once more, seeing that he was still sat on the bench, but just as I went to roll the ball, I felt his hand toying with the back of my hair. The sensation was enough to make me go weak at the knees, and I dropped the ball instead of rolling it. The sphere went straight into the gutter, and when I turned back to him, he had the biggest grin on his face.

"Aww, you'll get it next time babe" he remarked, and I couldn't help the smile that grew on my face, but it was one of those 'I'm annoyed but I can't stop smiling' smiles.

That's pretty much how the rest of the bowling games continued, with the two of us messing each other up every time we played. When it was his go, I would pinch his ass, causing him to jump forward, or I'd subtly grind against him, and to get me back, he'd usually toy with my hair and even on a few occasions, he took my glasses off, leaving me sufficiently blind. At the end of the three games, he'd won two, so it was only fair that he was declared the winner of our little competition, causing a massive smile to grow on his face.

"Fine, I'll admit that you are the bowling champion. But I'm so going to kick your ass at Resurrection 4!"

"Challenge accepted!" he replied, as the two of us made our way into the arcade and straight to the zombie game. Slotting in our coins, the game began and the two of us began our onslaught of virtual zombies, as we continued to mock and distract each other while also trying to keep up our own score. We were both in the zone as we played, the two of us both as competitive as each other, and I once again had the thought about how lucky I was to have such an amazing boyfriend. I didn't let that thought distract me for too long however, especially when Kendall began to slowly gain a lead. By the time the game had finished, I had killed 115 zombies, while Kendall was at a lousy 110 meaning that we were now tied in our competition.

"Come on, we need a tiebreaker" he said, causing me to spy a game out of the corner of my eyes.

"What about a good old fashioned race to settle the score?" I replied, causing him to look over at the same machine as I did.

"Perfect. Now, we can finally see who the better driver is" he teased, causing me to shake my head.

"I don't think this game will prove that. If anything, it'll prove who is more reckless"

"Just be quiet and put your coin in!" he retorted, before reaching over and placing a kiss onto my cheek. With our coins in, we began to cycle through the cars, looking what car we would be using, as well as spying on the other person to see what they were choosing. Eventually, the two of us had our cars locked up, and we were sat on the start line. "May the best man win"

"Oh I will" I replied cockily as the count down began.

"Three, Two, One, Race!" the booming voice from the game spoke, causing the two of us to slam down the accelerator. As expected, our cars shot off the start line, him gaining a small lead as we did so but I didn't let that deter me.

As the first corner approached, I let off of the gas a little, and swung my car around the corner, executing it almost perfectly and it allowed me to overtake Kendall, who I saw was grinding against the barrier showing he didn't make it. A small smirk grew on my face as we continued, but by the next corner, I could see that he was at my rear. The blond wasn't averse to play dirty, with him ramming into my bumper a few times in an attempt to get me out of the way but I was able to mostly remain strong, my car only spinning out a few times.

As the race continued, the two of us seemed to constantly swap positions. One minute he would be in front, and the next I would be. With the finish line approaching, we were neck and neck and with one final ditch effort, I put my brakes on ever so slightly. I could see the smirk on the blond's face as I did so, but it was clear he didn't expect what was coming next, with me ramming into his back corner, causing his car to spin into mine. Instead of doing what I expected, which was for his car to fly off, instead it swung into the front of mine, meaning that I was essentially pushing him along. By the time I reacted, it was too late, and I had to admit defeat as I pushed him over the finish line first.

"Yes!" Kendall cheered as he shot up from his seat with a massive grin on his face, something I couldn't help but copy due to the ridiculousness of the situation. Walking over to me, the blond couldn't help but do a happy dance to celebrate his victory. "I won, I won" he teased, as I got up from my seat, and in one movement, I picked him up, causing him to gasp.

"Congratulations" I said to him, as he tried to squirm out of my grip. "And because you won, you get the pleasure of being carried for the rest of the date"

"I'm starting to wonder if it was worth it" he joked, slapping me on the arm slightly, so that I finally let go of him. When he was back down on his feet, I was quick to reach out for his hand, and once he'd grabbed mine, I began to pull him through all of the machines. "What are we playing next?" he asked, causing me to shake my head.

"Well, since you won, you deserve a prize! And I happen to have a talent for" I said, presenting the machine in front of him.

"Claw Machines?" he asked, his eyebrow raised. "James, I don't think you can have a talent for claw machines, it's just a case of whether you get extremely lucky or not"

"Trust me, I have a talent" I replied, causing him to shrug.

"Prove it"

"Pick any toy on the top" I replied, causing him to scout about for a short while, but I saw it in his eyes when he landed on something.

"That one" he said pointing to the bee plushie that was tucked away in the back corner.

"Really?" I asked, causing him to chuckle.

"What? It's a memorable story" he replied with a shrug, causing me to take a deep breath as I prepared myself. Slotting the coin in, the machine loaded up and I took control of the crane with the joystick and moved it into the back corner. I could feel Kendall's eyes on the machine the whole time, but I didn't let that deter me from my mission. Hovering over the plushie, I pressed the button causing the crane to drop and the metal prongs wrapped around the bee, Kendall's eyes intently watching as the claw rose. As it reached the top once, I pressed the drop button once again, causing the grip on the bee to tighten instead of release like it usually does. Within seconds of that happening, the plushie was dropped down the chute and was in Kendall's arms as he hugged it.

"Ok, I take it back. You do have a talent for claw machines" he admitted, before reaching over and kissing me a chaste kiss on the lips.

"Why thank you" I said, with a quick bow causing him to chuckle. "But we best get out of here. What I did there is technically cheating, and the employees get real funny if they catch you" I continued, causing him to chuckle and shake his head as we linked hands once again and made our way back out to his car.

When the two of us were strapped in, he turned me with another cheeky grin on his face. "So, I have one more place that I want to stop at before we go back to mine if that's ok?" he asked, and my only response was a nod.

As we began our journey, my mind reeled with all the places he could be taking me next, but when he pulled up outside it 10 minutes later, confusion seemed to filter into my body.

 _'What on Earth could he have planned here?'_

* * *

 **So, I left this on a bit of a cliffhanger and I'm curious to see where you guys think they are! But yeah, this was essentially a Kames filled chapter, with the two of them just having fun! Also, a quick side note, I have no clue if that thing with the claw machines works, and I'm guessing it probably doesn't. Still, I needed something to use 😜**

 **Anyway, I want to say a massive thank you to Winterschild11, Guest, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter, and I'm so glad to see that you all enjoyed it! You all seemed to like the reconciliation with Dak, and I felt like it was about time that finally happened, with it being about 10 chapters now. You also seemed to love the scene between James and Beau, which I loved writing because I felt like Beau really did need some payback, and you all seemed to love that Kendall was defending James. If only someone could punch Beau in the face! 😜 Also, Logan and Carlos...you all knew this was going to happen eventually right? I have this strange need, where I need to pair them all off which each other, so this was bound to happen!**

 **Anyway, I will see you all on Monday for the next chapter of Class Vs Character, which you'll be pleased to know that I now have three chapters in reserve and that I've gotten back into my mojo of writing it. Anyway, until then,**

 **TTFN 😃**


	19. Chapter 19: Preparation

**Hi guys and welcome back to Love, James! So, I have just done some very confusing reading for Geography, so to take a break, I'm going to edit this! So, let's crack on shall we?**

* * *

When Kendall looked over at me, I could see that he had the biggest grin on his face, as well as a considerable amount of blush as well. "Ok, so I'm confused" I began, turning to him slightly. "Why are we at a pharmacy?" I continued, turning back to look at the chain store in front of us.

"Well, I'm not going to lie, I couldn't stop thinking about what happened on Tuesday night and I thought you know, to avoid anything else like that happening, we could come and…um…buy the stuff we needed" he replied, causing me to place a hand over my heart.

"You truly do think of everything" I replied, before reaching over and placing a kiss onto his cheek and reaching for the door handle. I could see how he was slightly sceptical to follow, but after he took a deep breath, the two of us were out of the car and walking into the store. As we walked through the automatic doors, I quickly looked around, and sighed out slightly when I noticed that there weren't many people in here with us.

Much like Kendall, I was actually pretty nervous to be doing this, but I knew that it was a good thing do it with each other, as it meant that we could get everything that we needed. I reached out for his hand once again, and once he took it, the two of us made our way through the aisles in search of what we needed. The store seemed pretty big, with us passing through a load of different aisles before we found the section we needed and when he did, it was safe to say that we were both massively shocked and confused.

"Why are there so many?" he whispered into my ear causing me to shrug.

"I have no clue, I'm just as confused as you are" I replied, staring at the 20 different condom boxes that we were faced with. I couldn't stop myself from scanning over all of them, looking at what each of the boxes said. _'Extra Safe, Excite Me, Pleasure Me, Real Feel, Intimate Feel, Thin Feel´_ my mind began to race as I looked at the array of different coloured boxes. "So, what ones do you think we need then?" I asked him, causing him to shrug in return.

"I don't know. I just thought we'd walk in and buy some condoms and lube and that would be it. I didn't expect there to be so many"

"Why does this have to be so difficult" I chuckled, causing him to let out a laugh of his own.

"I know right. All we want to do is have sex" he replied, falling into a fit of giggle himself. The two of us must have looked like small children, as we stood in front of the condoms laughing to each other, every now and again picking up a box to examine it, and of course, it only got worse when we began to read out the description of a few of them.

"Intimate Feel condoms are ultra-fine with extra lubrication to help heighten sensitivity and enhance feeling" I read out in a sensual voice, causing the two of us to crease up even further as I placed the box back.

"Oh god, people are looking at us" he chuckled, clearing his throat properly before reaching for the 'Extra Safe' box. "Why don't we just get these ones for the moment? I mean, we can't be too safe right?" he asked, causing me to nod as he picked up two boxes.

"Sound good, but now we need to get some lube" I replied, before turning around, and being met with the same amount of confusion.

"Oh, dear lord" I heard him mumble under his breath, causing me to bite my lip as I tried to stop myself from laughing again. "There are different flavours as well?" he continued, picking up a strawberry flavoured one, and spinning it around to have a look at it.

"Should we just get this one? I mean, it's the same colour as the condom boxes, so maybe they go together?" I asked, picking up a blue bottle.

"That's as good as a guess as any" he replied, as I read the description on the bottle.

"Yeah, this says it's the original one, so just get this one?" I asked again, causing him to nod as I reached for another bottle. "So, is that everything?"

"I think so, unless you want to get anything else?" he replied, causing me to shake my head.

"No, I'm good. Now, let's go before we get distracted again" I joked, causing him to chuckle as we headed to the front of the store where the tills were. Like usual, there was a guy stood behind the till, just waiting for customers to approach him, but there were also the self-serve machines, which Kendall and I seemed to unanimously choose when we both started to head in that direction. "Should be get a bag?" I asked, causing him to nod his head.

"Yeah, unless you want to carry it out?" he replied, causing me to chuckle as I started to pack everything he scanned. Luckily, the machine didn't seem to have any issues with what we were doing, and after paying for it, the two of us were quick to leave the store as we essentially sprinted to Kendall's car.

"Well, that was certainly an experience" I said, as I climbed into the passenger seat, causing him to chuckle.

"You can say that again" he replied, starting the car up before he finally left our last stop before we got back to his house, something I was quite excited to see.

* * *

As we pulled up outside his house, I couldn't help the nerves that started to well in my chest, but it wasn't because we were about to do the deed. No, it was because all I could think about in that moment was the devil he called his little sister. No matter how many times Kendall said she liked me, it didn't stop the fact that I knew she would intimidate me, and it certainly didn't help that I was holding a bag with lube and condoms in. When the two of us climbed out of the car, my nerves only seemed to rise as we made our way to the front door, and when he unlocked it, I couldn't help but tense up as I walked in.

"So, is anyone else here?" I asked, causing him to shake his head.

"No, mum's working a double shift and won't be back until tomorrow and Katie is out with her friends, and she is sleeping over at one of their houses" he replied, causing me to let out a sigh of relief. When he raised an eyebrow at me, I couldn't help but blush.

"What, I'm kinda scared of your sister" I admitted, causing him to shake his head as he led me into the kitchen.

"Um, so there's some water in the fridge if you want some. I'm just gonna throw these in my room, and then we can get something eat if you want?" he asked, causing me to nod.

"Yeah, that sounds good" I replied, handing him the bag as he rushed off upstairs. As I walked over to the fridge to grab a bottle of water, I couldn't help but notice a family picture on the windowsill. It must have been taken a few years ago, as Kendall looked really young and there was also another man in the picture, who looked the spitting image of Kendall. Along with him, was his mum and sister, who didn't look any older than five. I couldn't help but smile at how they all looked together, before I grabbed a couple of water bottles and shut the fridge.

Just as I turned around and placed the bottles onto the counter, Kendall came walking back in, causing me to flash him a small smile. "Here, I got you one as well"

"Thanks" he replied, and as he went to grab the water, his eyes seemed to land on the photo.

"You look just like him" I said, without thinking about it, and I panicked quickly, wondering how he was going to take it. When a small smile grew on his face and he gained blush on his cheeks however, that panic faded quickly.

"Thanks, I get that a lot" he replied, before the two of settled into a brief silence. After a few minutes, with my eyes glancing around the room taking everything in, he cleared his throat gaining my attention. "So, did you want to order something in? Or we could cook something?"

"Um, let's order something. That way, it's less for us to do. Besides, we never got to finish that Zombie movie" I replied with a cheeky grin, causing him to chuckle.

"That sounds good to me. How'd you feel about pizza?"

"It sounds perfect"

* * *

Two hours later, Kendall and I were upstairs on his bed with some playlist going on in the background. The two of us had shared a pizza as we watched the rest of that zombie film, but when we found ourselves getting slightly handsy with each other, with him straddling me on the sofa, we thought it was best to move so that we had a bit more privacy.

So, like I said, we were currently on his bed, where he was straddling me once again as he made out, as his Spotify playlist filled the room. Much like our last time, his hands were cupping my face, while mine were firmly planted on his ass, which his jeans really emphasised.

"God, you're so hot" I moaned in between kisses, which only seemed to turn him on more as the kissing became even more passionate. Our hard-ons were grinding against each other's as Kendall shuffled, causing another moan to escape from his lips, one that I quickly took advantage of as I engaged his tongue in a battle of dominance. I was quick to take lead of the battle, feeling how he became putty in my hands, and after giving his ass one last squeeze, I moved my hands to the bottom of his shirt. After one tug, he seemed to get the message as he pulled away from the kiss, and the two of us both took this opportunity to strip out of our tops. I was still mesmerised by his chiselled six pack and I couldn't help but run my hands over his soft skin as we began to make out again, his hands now firmly on my pecs.

"So fucking hot" I mumbled against his lips again, causing him to smile into our kiss.

"So are you baby" he mumbled back as he began to run his hands down my body, causing me to shiver under his touch as his delicate fingers danced across my skin. Once again, his movements caused him to grind against me, and I let out a low moan as our clothed erections rubbed together, allowing pleasure to course through my body. It wasn't long after that, that his lips were on my neck again, sucking and nibbling at all my sensitive points causing my hips to roll again as my back arched in the pleasure.

After branding me with his love bites, he began to make his way down my chest, and as if to only tease me more, he focused on my nipples, taking one of the buds into his mouth while he rolled the other between his thumb and forefinger. That caused my back to arch in pleasure once again, our dicks grinding together again only furthering the feeling and due to the bliss, I didn't even notice that he was beginning to undo my belt. As he took my other nipple into his mouth, I felt my pants begin to slide off, and out of reflexes, I lifted my hips, allowing my trousers and pants to come off as one, exposing my raging dick to the cool air.

The blond was quick to do the same to himself as he began to trail more kisses down my body, slowly getting closer and closer to my dick, and as if to tease me more, once he got there, he began to place kisses all around it. At this point, I was completely unaware of the fact that I had teased him like this early in the week, and if I was in any other state of mind, I probably would have considered it a fair payback, but all I was focused on at that moment was his wet heat as he finally enveloped me with his mouth.

The feeling was immense as the blond started off with slow, shallow bobs and I couldn't help but bring my hand into his hair, as I slowly guided him, much like he had done to me. As he continued, he took me deeper and deeper each time, his pace also increasing, and I realised why he had to stop me last time, as I already had a familiar stirring begin in my stomach.

"Oh, fuck Kendall, stop stop" I moaned out, causing him to pull off of me with an audible pop, that cheeky grin back on his face as he slowly stroked me. "Come here" I nodded, causing him to gladly work his way back to my mouth, where I pulled him into another passionate kiss. With my dominance returning, I flipped the two of us over again, causing a small gasp to escape his mouth as I pulled out of the kiss, and made my way down his body.

When I was clear, I pulled his pants and trousers off properly and I found myself reaching out for the bag that we had brought early, hoping that I wouldn't have to leave the bed to find it. Luckily, I was able to reach it with the tip of my finger, and I was quick to drag it close, rummaging through its contents to get the lube we had brought early. As I pulled the bottle out of the bag, as well as the condoms for later, I threw it somewhere in the room causing him to chuckle.

"Someone's eager" he joked, as he shuffled up the bed slightly. "So, how should we do this? Should I get onto all fours or?"

"Um…maybe just bring your knees up to your chest. I think that should be ok" I replied, causing him to nod as he did what I said, his hole now fully on display. After seeing it, I was quick to unwrap the bottle and open the cap, and with this being our first time, I made sure to apply a generous amount to my finger, with me shuddering when it first touched me.

"God, it's cold!" I hissed, causing him to chuckle as he began to shake his head and in response to his action, I poured a little bit down his ass crack. The blond was soon to stop his laughter as he also hissed out at its temperature.

"Shit!" he said, causing me to smirk at him. "A little warning would have been nice"

"But where's the fun in that?" I replied, shuffling slowly closer to him so that I could capture his lips into a kiss. While the two of us focused on that, I slowly brought my finger to his hole and began to rub the lube that I had poured there earlier with my already lube covered finger. He seemed to tense slightly at my action, but he relaxed quickly as the kiss continued. "I'm going to push one in now ok?" I asked, resting my forehead onto his, and in response to my question, I felt him nod slightly.

Capturing him in a kiss again, hoping it would be distraction enough, I slowly began to push one finger in, and I felt him clench around the intrusion. I remained still, and after a little while I felt him relax again, causing me to push it in a little further. This time he didn't tense up, so I slowly began to move my finger around as I widened his hole. I could see by his facial expression that he was experiencing some pain, but when I went to stop, he shook his head at me, and even shuffled a little bit, so that he moved around my finger.

Taking that as a sign to continue, I slowly worked him open, and when I felt like he was ready, I started to rub a second finger at his rim, so he knew what was coming. Again, he tensed up slightly before relaxing, and keeping the same speed and rhythm, I slowly worked a second finger in. When it was fully inside of him, I began to scissor my two fingers, hoping that would speed up the process a little bit, and I could see that the pain on his face was slowly dissolving into pleasure. That was definitely the case when I ran over a small bundle of nerves, causing the blond to let out a long moan into our kiss.

"Again" he said, and when I rubbed over the small bundle once more, the blond threw his head back in pleasure. "Fuck Jamesss" he said, slurring the S as I continued to work him open, adding a third finger when he was ready, and before long, I felt one of his hands wrap around my wrist, causing me to look him in the eyes. "Please fuck me" he said simply, causing me to nod as I ran my fingers over the small bundle once more before pulling them out completely. He seemed to whimper slightly at the loss, as I opened the condom packet and took one out, staring at the small grey wrapper. "Do you know how to put it on?" he asked with a timid voice, causing me to nod slightly.

"Yeah, I briefly read the instructions in the car" I replied, causing him to flash me a small smile.

"Ok, just take your time, we're in no rush" he responded, causing me to lean down and capture his lips into a brief kiss.

"How did I get so lucky?" I asked, causing a blush to settle onto his cheeks.

"I've been asking myself that same question for the last week" he replied, causing me to kiss him once again as I ripped open the condom packet. Making sure I was putting it on the right way, I slowly began to roll the latex object down my shaft, causing me to shudder at the feeling slightly.

"It feels really weird" I said to him, causing him to chuckle at me as I made sure it was on alright. With that being done, I reached over for the lube and once again applied a generous amount to my dick to make sure that it would be as easy and painless for him as possible. "You ready?" I asked, as I rubbed a little more lube around his hole causing him to nod.

"Yeah, I'm ready. But, just go slow" he said, causing me to nod as I leaned down once again to capture his lips in a kiss. He was quick to respond to it, and while he was slightly distracted, I slowly moved my dick down to his ass. He seemed to tense up at its touch, but when I felt him relax slightly, I pulled out of the kiss.

"I'm going to push in slowly ok?" I said, causing him to nod as I finally pressed my dick into his ass, feeling how tight he was as he enveloped me. With the tip was all the way in, I stopped, allowing him to get used to the feeling and to try and help a little bit more, I poured some more lube onto my dick and around his hole.

"Ok" was all he said, reaching up to pull me into another kiss and as we did so, I slowly began to push into him again. When my dick got about half way in, I stopped, allowing him to adjust once more, and when he nodded once again, I slowly pushed myself in so that I was fully sheathed. The feeling was truly immense, as I felt his tight walls clenching around me, and it took a lot of restrain to stop myself from moving. Still, I knew that this was as much for Kendall as it was for me, so I was respectful as I waited for him to adjust to my presence. "Fuck, I feel so full" he said through gritted teeth, causing me to rub my hand up and down the side of his torso.

"We're in no rush remember. Whenever you are ready" I said in a comforting voice, causing him to nod again as he tried to relax. We probably remained like that for about another minute, before Kendall gave me the go ahead, causing me to slowly pull out and push back in again. I could see on his face that he was still fighting some pain, so in order to help him out slightly, I wrapped my hand around his dick and began to pump him. It took a few goes for me to find my rhythm, but I knew I had when I pressed against a certain point inside him, causing him to howl out in pleasure.

 _'Jackpot'_ I thought to myself as I directed all of my thrusts against that point, causing the pain he was feeling to quickly dissipate, leaving only pleasure to remain on his face.

"Fuck…faster" he panted out, causing me to slowly speed up my thrusts, which only furthered the pleasure that we both were feeling.

"God, you feel so good" I moaned out, pleasure taking over me as my dick continually thrust in and out of him and it didn't take long for me to feel the familiar stirring in my stomach once again. With that, I sped up even more, constantly pressing against his prostate as I rapidly stroked his cock and it wasn't long before he was crying out.

"God, I'm gonna…I'm gonna cum!" he cried, and just as he said the word, his hot sticky cum shot out of his dick, covering my hand and our stomachs. As he orgasmed, I felt his walls clench around me, and that was enough for me to tumble over the edge as well, my seed shooting into the condom I was wearing. As bliss took over, I found myself falling down on top of him, now covering more of my stomach with his seed, but at that moment, neither of us cared.

We laid like that for a good few minutes before finally coming down from our high, and as carefully as possible, I pulled out hearing how he hissed slightly. I rolled the condom off of my length, before tying a knot in the end of it and throwing it into the bin that was located under his desk. I also reached over to his bedside table and grabbed a couple of the tissues that were sat there, allowing me to clean the two of us up. Kendall looked like he was half asleep as I wiped the cum off of his stomach, causing me to chuckle as I placed a kiss onto his lips before disregarding the sticky tissues.

With the two of us cleaned up, I carefully manoeuvred him so that he was under his sheets, and when I climbed in next to him, he was quick to move his head onto my chest. "I love you James" he mumbled, as I stroked his hair, causing me to lean down and place a kiss onto his head.

"I love you too Kendall" I replied, the two of us laying with each other before we let the abyss of sleep consume us both again.

* * *

 **So there we have it, Kames finally did the deed. Kendall took James to a pharmacy to make sure that they had the stuff they needed, and the two of them even shared a laugh over it while they were there, before they went back to Kendall's house. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Guest, Winterschild11, EpicallyObsessed and RainbowDiamonds for reviewing the last chapter, which you all seemed to love, so I'm so glad! No one guessed a pharmacy, so I hope you enjoyed that surprise, and it was nice to see Kames bonding like that! I had so much fun writing that last chapter, so I'm glad you all enjoyed it!**

 **I just wanted to say that there are only 2 chapters left of this story, one of which is an epilogue, so this story is coming a close! Thank you all so much for the support on this story, it truly has been amazing, and I hope that you all enjoy the next few chapters as well. I'm intending for Rush and Response to take over from this one, but I have so much going on recently that I haven't had a chance to write it, but by the time that story is ready to start, I should have a few chapters in the bank. Oh, and I also want to say a massive thank you to everyone who left a review on my new story Blizzard! I'm so glad that you enjoyed it, and I will definitely be continuing that when Class Vs Character ends!**

 **Anyway, I will see you all on Monday for the next chapter of Class Vs Character, but until then,**

 **TTFN 😃**


	20. Chapter 20: Normality

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Love, James! So, this is the penultimate chapter of this story, so let's crack on shall we?**

* * *

"Yes, something was missing. But dreams do come true. That something is no one... but you." I said to Camille, causing the crowd to aww as she spoke up

"I need one more thing from you." She replied, causing everyone to chuckle slightly.

"Always on the hustle. Let's hear it" I laughed in character, as I watched her push my finger so that I was pointing it at Jo.

"Stop playing games"

"That's an easy one" I replied before walking over to Jo, feeling as the crowd watched me intently. "Not knowing what I have in front of me has been a problem of mine for a long time. But I'm learning" I began, taking her hand into my own. "Will you go out with me?" I asked, causing her to gasp in character.

"What?" She replied, one hand in mine, while the other was over her heart.

"I can't function without you. And I don't mean at work. And you were right about this whole mayor thing. And about Karl. And about last quarter's earnings. And…" I rambled, causing her to lean over and kiss me on the cheek, resulting in a massive aww from the audience. All the other girls on stage wooed at us, causing the crowd to laugh before I turned back to Camille. "Family?" I asked, causing her to nod as the music for 'I Don't Need Anything But You" began to play and we launched into song.

As we sung, I could see how the crowd seemed to bob and jive along with us, spurring me on even further to continue this performance to the best of my ability. I tried my best not to let the little bits of dialogue from the other cast members distract me, and I also tried my best not to yelp out in pain when Camille stepped onto my toes as per the choreographed dance.

When the play finally came to an end, the whole crowd launched into a huge cheer as everyone in the cast and crew came out onto the stage, relishing in the applaud we were getting. I scouted through it, seeing how my parents were among the few people that were standing, and right along side them was Kendall as well as his family. I also noticed how all of my friends were cheering and whistling for us, causing me to shake my head slightly before the curtain finally dropped.

"We did it!" Camille squealed as soon as it did, pulling me into a huge hug that I was quick to return.

"And it went so well!" I enthused back, squeezing her in the hug slightly before we let go. Carlos was by my side as well, so I couldn't help but pull the Latino into a hug, as we congratulated each other. "You did so well!"

"So, did you!" he replied, before we finally separated and made our way into the changing room, where we quickly got changed back into our usual clothes. As the three of us finally walked out, we could see how everyone was already gathered around congratulating Lucy, but as soon as Kendall caught sight of me, he was quick to rush up to me and pull me into a huge hug as well.

"You were so great!" he said, as he squeezed the hug, causing me to snuggle into his neck slightly.

"Thank you!"

"Seriously, I can't believe how good you were, you were just so amazing!" he continued, causing a massive smile to grace my face as he finally pulled out. As soon as he did, I was engulfed in another hug, this time by my parents.

"Oh sweetie, you were fantastic, we're so proud of you!" Mum squealed, causing my smile to grow further.

"Nice work champ, you really were great!" Dad said, ruffling my hair, causing me to blush as the two of them finally pulled away.

"Nice going" Katie said as she approached me with a small smile, causing me to nod back at her, and once again, I was engulfed in another hug, this time from Kendall's mum, someone I had properly met last week when I was round one evening.

"You were brilliant James, well done" she said, patting me on the back as she hugged me before pulling out as well. As everyone was congratulating each other, I noticed Lucy heading out of the fire exit and I knew that I had to talk to her. It's been two weeks since we've gotten back from Christmas, and the two of us still hadn't talked and sorted everything out, and to be honest, it was starting to bug me slightly.

"I'll be back in a second" I said as everyone chatted, and when Kendall looked over at me, he just nodded as if to say he knew what I was doing. I was quick to follow Lucy out of the door, and to my luck, she was just standing by the door. When she saw me approach, I could see how her shoulders tense up slightly, causing me to raise my hands up in surrender. "I was just coming out to say that you did really great tonight. You were on point for each song" I said, and I could see how the sides of her mouth seemed to tug slightly, despite how much she was trying to keep a straight face.

"Thanks" she finally muttered, allowing that small smile onto her face.

"And I know that you don't want to hear it, but I just want to apologise again for what I did. What I did was completely wrong, and it was cruel and I know that now. No matter how I try to excuse it, it was a truly dickish thing to do and there is no excuse for me to treat you like I did. I really am sorry" I replied, seeing how her face turned to stone once again. When she made no effort to say anything, I let you a quiet sigh before rubbing my nose, another one of my nervous ticks. "Well, I best get back inside. I'll…um…err" I stuttered, giving her one last chance to say something. When she didn't however, my eyes were quickly cast to the ground as I turned around and headed back to the door.

With my hand on the handle, I quickly pushed it opened, but before I could walk in, I heard "James, wait" causing me to turn my head towards her. "I'm sorry for how I've been treating you"

"You haven't done anything wrong. I was the one to screw up" I replied, causing her to shrug.

"Yeah, but I was still a bit of a dick to you. And while what you did was pretty fucked up, I can see why you did it" she said, causing me to let go of the door as I walked back over to her. "You were just in a bad situation, and you made some bad choices, I think most people would have done the same"

"But still, it was pretty messed up"

"Oh yeah, it was totally fucked up" she laughed, causing me to chuckle. "And I really am sorry for how I treated you, especially when I came around and shouted at you that day. It's just…" she began, leaning back so that she was slouching against the wall as she continued. "My last relationship ended when I found out that he had cheated on me. So, after that, I vowed never again to let myself get into that type of situation. So, when Beau started to hit on me, I was slightly sceptical, hence why it took so long for us to get into a properly relationship. Then, when I found out about what was happening, I just got so mad that I'd allowed it to happen to me again, and I took it all out on you"

"I didn't know, I'm so sorry! I feel so shitty now, I really am sorry" I replied, slouching against the wall next to her as I let out a sigh. "I was just so worried about myself and Kendall that I didn't even really stop to think about anyone else. I'm such a prick" I said, causing my head, causing her to let out a soft chuckle.

"Yeah, but it's all in the past now, and I'm not with that dirtbag anymore, so I think it's time we moved on" she replied, before pushing herself up from the wall and reaching out a hand for me. "Friends?" she asked, causing me to nod as I pushed myself off the wall and gratefully took her hand.

"Friends" I said firmly with a nod, causing the two of us to smile at each other.

"And you were great out there by the way" she added, causing me to blush slightly as we walked inside and back towards our friends. When Kendall looked at me once again, I just nodded at him, causing a smile to grow on his face as he hooked his arm around my waist.

"So Dak and I were just saying how we're going to take you all out to Sundaes as a celebration" Kendall said, causing everyone to mummer in agreement, and I also noticed how Carlos had joined us.

"That sounds really nice" I replied, causing Dak and Jett to let out a woo before we all began to make our way out into the car park. For the first time in a long time, it felt like the group was finally back to normal again, but at the same time, I was aware of how different it actually was.

As I threw my arm over Kendall's shoulder, I couldn't help the sigh that let my mouth, as I realised how content I was once again.

* * *

Conversation on the table at Sundaes was bustling, as we were all involved in one huge conversation, much like we normally were. Everyone was talking over each other as we tried to say out piece, and I almost felt bad for Carlos as he seemed to struggle with the concept slightly. Luckily, it seemed that Logan was giving him a hand, providing the Latino with an opening whenever he wanted to say anything.

"I still can't believe you nearly slipped up" I said to Camille causing me to go a bright red as everyone looked between her and me.

"When was that? I didn't notice her slipping up" Jett replied, causing me to grin back at him.

"It was quick, but I caught it. I believe the line was… oh that was it! It was when we were talking about getting photos together, and Camille said 'Not with me in 'em. So, what do you say D…' before she stopped and corrected herself. She was going to call me 'daddy' on stage" I laughed, causing everyone to join in, while she just shook her head.

"No, I wasn't"

"You so were! Don't lie to us!" I replied, causing a smile to grow on her face in defeat. That caused everyone's laughter to intensify, with even Camille joining in this time.

"Ok, fine so I was. But can we at least acknowledge Michael's voice crack during Easy Street" she said, causing everyone to laugh even harder.

"Bless the poor kid, his face went so red when it did! There was no way he was hiding that one!" Carlos added, causing everyone to nod in agreement.

"Yeah, he certainly won't live that down for a while" Logan agreed, as every seemed to settle down slightly, as conversation returned to normal. Well, that was until Jett opened his mouth again.

"So, I can imagine you'll get some tonight then James" he said, causing Kendall and I to blush slightly, while everyone else began to chuckle.

"Ok, so I do have to ask though" Dak began, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes already. "Who tops, and who bottoms?" he asked so bluntly, causing me to choke on air slightly. That caused everyone to crease up laughing, while I just shook my head as I wiped some of the spit away from my mouth.

"Seriously dude?" I replied with an eyebrow raised.

"I was kinda curious about that as well. I'm not going to lie" Camille asked, causing my head to snap to her. "What? This is the first time you're in a serious relationship. It's natural for us to be curious"

"Morons" I mumbled, causing them all to chuckle.

"You still haven't answered the question though. So…" Dak asked, causing me to shake my head as I wrapped my arm over Kendall's shoulder. The blond's face was just completely consumed with blush as everyone spoke.

"It's none of your business" I replied, causing everyone to burst out into laughter once again.

"I think that answers our questions" Camille added, causing me to just shake my head again.

"What can I say? James is pretty skilled" I heard Kendall's small voice speak up, causing me to just cover my face as I blushed massively. "Sorry babe, but the crowd wanted to know" he continued, before placing a kiss onto my cheek, which didn't help the situation at all.

"Great, now my boyfriend has turned on me" I grumbled with a pout, causing him to place a kiss onto my lips.

"Yeah, but now I get to ask I question I've been dying to!" Kendall continued, and this time, I finally pulled my hands away from my face as he directed his stare straight to Dak. "I couldn't help but notice when we were changing that you had a few…indents around your wrists and ankles. Care to explain?" he asked, causing both Dak and Lucy to flush this time. Of course, that set the whole table off into laughter, as everyone began to stare at the two of them with wonder in their eyes.

"What? It's natural to experiment" Dak pouted this time, only setting the table off even more, while Lucy slapped him on the arm.

"I told you they were too tight" I heard her whisper into his ear, and Kendall must have heard it as well, as the two of us turned to each other with questioning eyes before he burst into laughter again.

"You guys are weirdly open about this stuff. I would never dare to talk about any of this with Jo and that lot" Carlos said through the laughter, causing Dak to shrug as he looked me right in the eyes.

"What can we say? We're all just really close friends" he replied, causing my heart to swell at the compliment. Everything was finally back to how it used to be, despite how much everything had actually changed.

At least I can now say that all of that change was for the better, despite the hard times we went through.

* * *

 **So there we have it! James and Lucy have finally made up, and we got a little back story as to why Lucy was so pissed at James. We then also had some general discussions from the group, showing how great everything is!**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Guest, Winterschild11, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter, and I'm so glad you all enjoyed the last chapter! I had so much fun writing the part in the pharmacy, so I'm so glad that you all really enjoyed it! You all also seemed to love the idea of Pizza and a Zombie Movie 😜**

 **Anyway, I hope you all had a good Halloween, and I have to admit, mine was ok this year. A bunch of my flatmates and I watched Hocus Pocus, The Woman in Black, Monster House, The Boy and then Hotel Transylvania, so as you can tell, we alternated between horror and funny films. I'm not going to lie to you all, I did scream multiple times at the Woman in Black, which was not fun, but other than that, it was alright.**

 **So, next Thursday will be an Epilogue to this story, finally concluding it, which I'm super sad about, but first I will see you all on Monday for Class Vs Character. But until then,**

 **TTFN 😃**


	21. Chapter 21: Epilogue

**Hi Guys and welcome to the final chapter of Love, James! So, this is it guys, the last part of this story and I'm super sad about it! Thank you all so much for the support on this story, but as usual I will get into that later, so let's crack on shall we?**

* * *

7 Months Later:  
As I rolled onto my side in my bed, I was greeted with the bright green eyes of my boyfriend, who was currently staring at me. As soon as he saw me stare back, he was quick to lean forward and place a short kiss onto my lips. "Happy Birthday Jamie" he said, causing me to flash him a small smile as I rolled back onto my back, where he was quick to lay his head on my chest. "I can't believe that you're finally 18" he continued, causing me to chuckle.

"Sorry we can't all be born in November" I replied, causing him to swat me on the arm slightly. In response, I pulled him closer into me, with one of my hands landing on his ass as I did so. Giving it a quick squeeze, I placed another kiss onto his forehead as I spoke. "Can we just stay like this all day?" I asked, causing him to chuckle as he shuffled slightly on my chest.

"I wish we could, but I think your family want you see you, and I can't imagine they'll want to see the two of us like this" he replied, and as he went to move away again, I pulled him in closer.

"But you're so comfy" I teased as I squeezed his ass again, causing him to let out a quiet moan before he finally pushed himself away.

"Quit being a tease and get some clothes on." He said, before we both heard a "JAMES!" get shouted up the stairs. "See, your mum wants to wish you a happy birthday as well" he continued, causing me to sigh.

"Fine, but we're not done here" I replied as I sat up on the side of my bed. As soon as I did, I saw him move over to my side, where he was quick to straddle my hips.

"I hope not" he whispered into my ear before nibbling at my earlobe slightly, something he knew would turn me on. Of course, my dick was quick to react to him but before I could do anything, he was off my lap and already by the door. "Now get some clothes on" he said, before leaving my room, and more importantly, me with a raging erection.

"Tease" I mumbled under my breath before I finally pulled myself up and got dressed into my pyjamas. As I headed downstairs, I noticed how everyone was gathered around the table, and as soon as I walked up my mum shot up from her seat.

"Happy Birthday honey! Oh, I just can't believe that you're 18, it only feels like yesterday that I was holding you in my arms" she said as she pulled me into a tight hug which lasted for a few seconds before she pulled out. As soon as she was gone, my dad was pulling me into a hug as he ruffled my hair.

"Yeah, happy birthday champ" he said simply before the two of us separated and we took our seats. Like any other birthday, the table was filled with all sorts of foods that we wouldn't normally eat, like crumpets, croissants, pain au chocolats and pancakes, and none of us were averse to digging into it and making the most of it. God, even Kendall seemed to dive right in there, causing me to smile at how well he had adapted to our family dynamic. The conversation over breakfast was light, with me asking if we had any plans for today. Usually, my parents always had something laid out, but this year, they both just looked to Kendall, who had a small smile on his face.

"So, what are we doing?" I asked, almost like a small child causing him to chuckle.

"It's a surprise" he replied, causing my parents to grin at me as I tried to put on my best pout. Of course, the blond was quick to kiss it off, causing conversation to return to normal.

* * *

When we had all finished our breakfast, we made our way into the living room so that I could open my presents. Of course, I kept telling everyone that I didn't really want much year, especially after everything I had gained, but that didn't seem to stop them. My parents seemed to play on the gay thing a little bit, with them buying me a flag that they claimed 'I could hang up' as well as a large mug with 'Gay Icon' written on the side of it. I just chuckled at the two of them, who were clearly loving it as much as I was before moving onto the bits that Kendall was trying so hard not to push into my face. As I opened the first one, I couldn't help but shake my head and chuckle at the cut scene clapper that he had bought me.

"You can use this next year for when you direct the play" he said to me, causing me to flash him a big grin as I moved onto the next one, which was a hat with 'Director' written on the front of it.

"Thank you so much" I said to everyone, and as I went up to give them all a hug, my dad stopped me.

"Wait, you still have one more" he said, before handing me a white envelope. Raising an eyebrow at him, I opened it and gasped at what it contained. Inside was two planes tickets, as well as a booking reservation for a hotel in San Francisco.

"That's from all of us. Kendall booked and paid for the hotel and we got the plane tickets. We got you a week, so you can do all the sight seeing and everything" My mum said, as I briefly brought the envelope close to my chest.

"Thank you so much!" I replied, now dropping the envelope as I jumped up and pulled my parents into a hug, one they were quick to respond in. After that, I moved over to Kendall and pull the blond close into my chest. "Thank you, Ken"

"No worries Jamie" he replied, as he hugged me back.

"Well, you two best be getting ready, you have a big day planned" my mum interrupted, causing the two of us to nod as I smiled at them again.

"Thank you" was all I could think to say to them, causing them both to smile back before Kendall and I made our way upstairs and back into my bedroom. As soon as the door was shut, I felt the blond on me as he began to walk the two of us back to my bed.

"And now for the second part of your present" he whispered into my ear before pushing me down onto the bed. I was already turned on by the sight, and it certainly helped when I saw him get down onto his knees and pull my trousers off. An hour and two blowjobs later, Kendall and I were finally leaving the house for whatever day the blond had planned. He was able to drive round yesterday, so I knew that we would be taking his car, hence why I headed straight to his passenger side door. The blond grinned at the action before unlocked the car as he spoke.

"You know, I remember a time when you were horrified to let me drive" he joked, causing me to shrug.

"What can I say? I like being chauffeured around" I replied, causing him to swat me on the arm. "So, what do we have planned today then?"

"Well, I was thinking we could go to the cinema to see that new film you wanted to see. Then we could grab something to eat and do a bit of shopping. I know how much you love shopping" he teased, causing me to blush.

"Yeah, that sounds really nice." I replied, causing him to grin at me as he shoved the car into drive and graciously pulled off of the curb and onto the road.

* * *

Spending the day with Kendall was absolutely perfect for a birthday as it was just like spending the day with one of my best friends, with a little extra of course. In the cinema, the two of us couldn't help but mock some parts of the film, causing us both to chuckle before we started to make out a little bit, and he took me to my favourite restaurant for lunch, which made it so much better. After that, we went shopping, where he constantly teased me about my habits and just said 'that's nice' to everything I picked up. That was a tradition of his. Eventually, I came out with a couple of t-shirts and a few new pairs of shoes, and when I glanced down at the time, I realised that it was getting close to 5 pm.

"Come on, I have one last place I want to take you" he said, grabbing a hold of my arm and tugging it slightly so that I followed him back to the car. Chucking all of my bits into the boot, the two of us set off once again, and I couldn't help but smile at the location that we arrived at.

"You're taking me bowling?" I asked, causing him to grin at me cheekily.

"Well yeah, I've got to see if I'm still the champion" he teased back, causing me to shake my head.

"Game on!" I said, the two of us quick to get out of the car as our challenge begin. We played three games, much like we did last time and at the end, he was still victorious although I was a lot closer to winning this time.

"Well, you've definitely improved" "

Yeah, but no one can beat the bowling champion" I teased back, causing him to pull me into a small kiss.

"Damn right, and don't you forget it" he replied, placing another chaste kiss onto my lips before he checked his phone for the time. "Wanna head back to yours? Your parents said that they would go out tonight to give us a little privacy" he added, causing me to blush slightly as I shook my head.

"I can't believe they said that too you"

"Oh please, you know they've said far worse to the pair of us" he replied, as the two of us made our way back to his car. As we climbed in, I saw him send a text message to someone, but I didn't think too much of it, considering the person didn't reply. I just assumed he was telling his mum he was staying around mine again, and as the two of us linked hands we began our journey back to my house.

* * *

As expected all the lights were off, and my parent's car was nowhere to be seen, so I couldn't help the mischievous grin that grew on my face as we pulled up. We were quick to get out of the car, and I essentially dragged him to the front door, a massive grin on his face as I did so. I fumbled with the keys, trying to get them into the lock, and I let out a happy sigh when I finally did it properly.

As I swung the door open, all the lights turned on in the house, with everyone cheering 'surprise' as they did so. I couldn't help but jump slightly, my whole body completely in shock.

"Happy 18th James!" Camille said as she ran up to me and pulled me into a huge hug, one that everyone seemed to join in on.

"You threw me a surprise party?" I asked, causing Dak to tilt his head from side to side.

"Well, it was mostly Kendall who planned it all. He just told us where to be and when" Dak joked, causing me to turn to my boyfriend who was blushing slightly.

"Anyway, let's get wasted!" Jett shouted, causing everyone to chuckle as he headed into the kitchen.

"You threw me a surprise party?" I repeated to the blond, causing him to blush further.

"It's a big birthday, and I wanted it to be special" he began, causing me to pull him into a hug. "And don't worry about a thing. Your parents spent the day party proofing the house, so you don't need to worry about anything" he continued, before placing a kiss onto my lips. "Now come on! I spent a lot of time planning this, so I need a drink" he joked, before taking my hand and leading me into the kitchen, where a load of beers, ciders and some shots were sat out. Kendall was quick to grab a cider can, causing Jett to chuckle slightly.

"You sure you want Kendall to drink James? He might start stripping again" he joked, causing me to wrap my arms around Kendall's waist as I placed my chin on his shoulder.

"As long as he's stripping for me, I don't mind at all" I replied, placing a few kisses onto his neck, causing him to tense up a little bit due to it being one of his sensitive spots.

That caused everyone to chuckle as we all broke into some cans and began to chat about our summers so far.

* * *

About an hour later, everyone was scattered around the house. Jett, Camille, Dak and Lucy were playing beer pong in the kitchen, while Logan, Carlos, Kendall and I were just chilling in the living room. I couldn't help but notice how close Logan and Carlos were sat, and when Carlos reached over and placed a kiss onto Logan's cheek, the blush on Logan's face seemed to grow. When I raised an eyebrow at him, a coy smile grew on his face, causing me to chuckle as I shook my head.

"So, Logan and Carlos hey?" Kendall whispered into my ear, as he was sat on my lap.

"I know, I didn't see that one coming" I replied, as I wrapped my arms around his waist once again and pulled him in close. "You know, this really is the perfect birthday. Thank you so much Ken" I said to him, causing a blush to settle on his face once again as he adjusted himself so that he was staring me directly in the eyes.

With a small smile gracing both of our faces, we captured each other's lips into a passionate kiss, one that only seemed to make the night even better. "I really do love you Kendall, and it's hard for me to imagine my life without you in it" I said once we had pulled out, causing him to place another kiss onto my lips before he replied.

"I love you too James"

* * *

 **So there we have it! The end of this story, which is super sad!😭😭 I thought I'd end it on James' birthday, as I thought it would be nice, and of course, I had to make sure that the Cargan happened!**

 **So, I want to thank everyone who read this story, and I want to give a massive thank you to Guest, Winterschild11, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing every single chapter of this story! I know I always say this at the end of every story, but your support and feedback really does mean the world to me, and I always love hearing what you have to say about every chapter, so thank you so much for that! Anyway, I',m so glad that you all enjoyed the last chapter, and that Lucy finally came around in the end. I wanted to provide a little reason for why she didn't forgive James so easily, which you all seemed to like as well.**

 **I will see you all on Monday for the next chapter of Class Vs Character, and then next Thursday will be the start/continuation of my story Rush and Response, which feels like forever ago since I posted it! Anyway, again, thank you all so much for you support, it has truly been amazing, and until then,**

 **TTFN 😃**


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